The Remnants: Reconstruction
by Mei Li Young
Summary: In book two of the Remnants, it's been ten years since Edward and the others settled on Pendleton island. Away from the zombies and the chaos of the mainland,they have created an idyllic life. However, there is only so long that the dangerous outside world can be kept at bay. With children to protect, they will have to fight for their lives and for those they love.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hi everyone. I'm so sorry that it has been so long since I've written. My mom passed away shortly after I finished The Remnants. I was in a very dark place for a while and it has taken me a long time to pull myself out of it. I thought about writing other stories and I still have some on the back burner, but I couldn't stop thinking about these guys. I hope you enjoy book 2 of The Remnants. It will not be as long a story as the last one, but I hope you like it just as much.**

 **THE REMNANTS: Book Two**

 **Chapter One: The Fragility of an Idyllic Life**

 **MAIN CHARACTERS**

 **FUNDY ISLES ARCHIPELAGO**

 _ **Whitehead island**_

Owen (61) and Arlene (55)

\- Philip (34)

\- John (27)

\- Sue (22)

Jack (30) and Gianna (32)

\- Gus (5)

 _ **McManus island**_

John (48) and Nadia (48)

\- Maddie (23)

 _ **Pendleton**_ _ **island**_

Bella (31) and Edward (30)

\- Finn (10)

Jasper (33) and Alice (30)

\- Clara (12)

Ben (37) and Angela (35)

\- Isaac (19)

\- Nate (10)

\- Hannah (six months)

Carlisle (57) and Esme (52)

\- Chris (22)

\- Chloe (10)

Masen (36) and Leah (34)

\- Austin (20)

\- Max (16)

\- Lily (14)

\- Emma (5)

Emmett (36) and Rosalie (38)

\- Sage (7)

Embry (35) and Katie (29)

\- Casper (6)

Jane (27) and Caroline (32)

Quil (29) and Claire (30)

Seth (28)

Tia (48) and Peter (52)

* * *

 **EDWARD**

"Dad… Dad… Dad…"

With a groan, I tried to turn away from Finn who was poking the side of my face to punctuate each word.

"Come on, Dad," Finn whined, frustrated that I was ignoring him.

"It's too early, kid. Go back to bed," I groaned, throwing my pillow over my head.

"I just need to ask you one question. Just one…"

"No…" I said, clenching the pillow over my ears in hopes that he'd go away.

"The sun's up, so it's not too early," Finn said, tugging the pillow out of my death grip.

In resignation, I opened one eye and glared at him.

"This better be good," I growled.

Finn looked at me with a disarming grin, using all his charm to butter me up. Bella said that that look was all me and I really couldn't argue because Finn was practically my twin.

He grinned in victory when he saw that I was waking up.

"Speak," I said, flatly.

"Can Nate and I go to the brook?"

I sighed in exasperation, rubbing my hand over my face to try to clear my head. Only a faint light was coming through the window so it was early… way too early.

"Finn… We've been over this. You can't just show up at their house when it's not even light out. Ben and Angela have probably been up all night with Hannah. When the baby sleeps, her parents need to sleep too."

Finn looked at me with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Nate's already here," he said.

 _He snuck out again…_

With a groan, I sat up, causing Bella to stir.

"What's going on?" she yawned.

"Nothing… I just need to have a word with our son and his partner in crime," I said, standing up and stretching.

It was freezing in the house, so I yanked on the wool sweater that Bella had knit me for Christmas.

I must not have banked up the fire properly the night before, so I could see my breath in the air. It was times like this that I wished electricity still existed in our world, so I could have a space heater.

"Go to the living room, so you don't wake your mom up anymore than you already have," I said, giving my son a little shove to get him moving.

"Ben's not going to be happy," Bella said, from our nest of blankets. I looked at them with regret, wanting to crawl back into the little cocoon of heat that I'd left.

"Nope," I said, as I walked out of the room and towards the fireplace so I could stoke the fire. At least I could warm the house up for Bella before I left with our little punk and his best friend.

Finn was waiting expectantly in the living room, practically hopping from one foot to the other.

"Where is he?" I asked, levelling a glare at my son.

"Just outside," Finn said. "Can he come in?"

I nodded curtly as I grabbed the loaf of bread that Bella made yesterday. I cut some thick slices and some of the cheese that I'd gotten last week from John.

"Hi Edward," Nate said, bringing in a gust of cold air with him as Finn threw the door open.

"Nate…" I said. "Have you eaten?"

"No, sir," he said with a smile.

"Sit down and eat and then I'm taking you back to your parents," I said, not looking up at him as I prepared plates for both of them.

"Aw, Dadddddd," Finn whined at the same time as Nate started "but… but… but…"

"No 'but' Nathaniel," I said, looking him in the eye. "You know that you're not supposed to sneak out of the house."

"Mom's awake, but she's busy with Hannah. So, I just wanted to get out from under foot," he said, fidgeting as he spoke. He hadn't realized yet that it was his 'tell' that he was lying.

"Did you tell your mom that?" I asked.

"Ummm…" he said.

"Just say 'no,' Nate," Finn said, slumping forward so his elbows rested on the table with his chin in his hand. "You'll get into less shit."

"Finn, what did I say about bad language?"

"You use it all the time!" Finn accused, a scowl on his face.

"I'm 30 and you're 10. I've got twenty years on you, bud," I said, but I couldn't help the slight upturn of my lips. Bella was constantly telling me to watch my language.

"Ok, old man," Finn said, with a smirk.

I lunged at him playfully, and put him in a headlock so I could tickle him.

While all of this was going on, Nate sat at the table with his arms crossed, scowling at the table.

Coming from two easy-going parents, Nate was a surprisingly stubborn kid. I thanked my lucky stars that for the most part Finn was well-behaved.

It was at this moment that Bella came out of our room, looking only half awake.

"Morning everyone," she said, kissing me on the cheek and smoothing Finn's hair that was currently sticking up in all directions. I reached up and smoothed down my hair at the sight, feeling that it was probably in a similar condition.

"Nate, what are you doing up at this hour?" she asked, ruffling his hair too.

"Nothing…" he grumbled.

She paused and raised one eyebrow at him.

The look seemed to make Nate wilt and he sighed. "I snuck out," he grumbled.

"Uh huh," Bella said with a nod. "You know you're in trouble, right?"

"Yeah…" he said, slouching further into his seat.

Once they'd finished their breakfast, I ushered them both outside and down the hill towards where most of the other cabins were.

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was streaked with red, pink, and orange as it slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the nighttime sky.

Morning dew covered the grass, dampening the cuffs of my pants as we descended the hill, but the air was fresh as it filled my lungs. There was a low-lying fog dappling the top of the lake as if clouds had dropped from the sky onto it. It was a beautiful sight that you'd only see if you were up before the heat of the sun had reached it.

Like most days in late summer, it was cold in the morning, but it would quickly warm up and be a hot day by lunch. After going fishing with Jasper, I planned on swimming in the lake while the weather was still good. I tried to join Jasper fishing at least a couple times a week, so that he and Peter didn't have to do all the work to feed a community that was steadily growing. The number of kids alone was increasing our food consumption.

Just as we'd reached the bottom of the hill, I saw the door to Ben and Angela's cabin fly open and Ben coming out of it.

"Your dad's pissed…" Finn hissed at Nate as they both tried to hide themselves behind me.

I glared down at him at the language at the same time as I grabbed the collar of Nate's jacket and pulled him out in front of me.

Ben looked up at that moment and ran a hand over his face in frustration.

"Nate, get over here!" Ben said, sharply.

Nate sighed and stomped over to his dad.

"What have I told you about sneaking out?" he said, flatly.

"That I shouldn't do it…" Nate said in a low voice.

"No… not that you _shouldn't_ do it… that you're not _allowed_ to do it… There's a big difference between those two statements."

"Sorry, Dad," Nate said, looking a little less rebellious.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Nate. You can't just disobey us because you don't like the rules. Why did you sneak out in the first place?"

"I wanted to go to the brook and look for that cool algae," Nate said, rubbing his shoe in the dirt and not making eye contact with his dad.

"So, instead of waiting until people woke up, you decided to sneak out before daybreak, rope Finn into your plot, and then wake up Edward," Ben said, angrily.

"I guess so…" Nate said, sullenly.

"Well, sorry kid… There's no playing today. You're going to join up with Isaac in the back field digging potatoes and picking apples in the orchard."

"Finn's going to join you, so you can be partners in crime while doing chores," I added, much to Finn's chagrin.

"But Dad…" Nate whined. "Isaac's going to be with Chris and Austin. He always gets grumpy when I hang around with them. All he wants to do is talk about Maddie…"

Isaac and Maddie had been seeing each other for close to a year now and he was already asking Nadia and John if he could move to their island. He was in his twenties so Ben and Angela were in support of whatever he wanted to do.

"Well, you'll just have to deal with it and I'll talk to Isaac," Ben said with a note of finality.

"I've already fed them," I said to Ben.

"Thanks, Edward," Ben said, looking at me apologetically. "Go get your boots on Nate and then you, Finn, and I will head over to Isaac and Chris' house."

I looked down at Finn who looked to be just as happy about doing chores as Nate was.

"You too, Finn. Run up to the house and get your boots," I said, patting him on the back. It wasn't really his fault that Nate showed up at our house so early.

"Okay, Dad," Finn said before running up the hill.

"I'm really sorry, Edward. I don't know how to stop him from being so rebellious all the time," Ben said in exasperation. "He's not adjusting well to having a baby in the house."

I clapped Ben on the back in understanding.

"Maybe the kids just have too much time on their hands. Chris, Isaac, Austin, and Max, all have jobs to do every day. Maybe we need to find work for the younger ones too. Or at least up their training," I said.

I'd been teaching Finn about bows and arrows for a few years now, but I knew that I'd have to eventually teach him about guns too. I just didn't want to take away his innocence. However, we lived in a dangerous world and I needed to make sure he was prepared if heaven forbid something happened. I had nightmares sometimes of Finn being surrounded by zombies without me there to protect him.

Clara, who was only twelve, already knew how to fire a gun because Jasper started teaching her before she'd even turned nine. Many people in the colony were horrified that he'd started so young, but Jasper wanted Clara to be prepared.

For the most part, our kids were oblivious to the chaos of the world on the mainland. They'd heard about the "monsters" and we'd done drills on what to do if one of them ever got into camp. I also knew that some of the older boys, that remembered the dead, had told the younger children stories about them. However, none of it was real to them and I was both thankful and worried about that.

From the news that we were receiving from the Seawolves, the mainland was still a mess. Over the years, there had been some attempts at creating an organizational structure linking all the communities in the area, but they failed for a variety of reasons. Even though the number of dead wandering the streets had decreased considerably in comparison to ten years ago, people still turned when they died, so many communities were destroyed because of it. It only took one zombie to wipe out a gated community. Also, a lack of resources was always an issue because, unlike us, it was difficult to maintain a stable food supply when there was a constant risk of being overrun by the dead. That led to wars between communities who would fight each other for whatever they could get their hands on. Then, there would be a resurgence of zombies hunting humans. Seth told us that the Fundy isles which we belonged to was the only functioning cooperative he'd seen. Even though we mostly stuck to ourselves, besides socializing with McManus and Whitehead, we traded with almost all the islands quite regularly.

"As much as I hate to do it, I think we need to start teaching the kids more about how to defend themselves. We don't need to make it scary. We can make it seem like a sport to them," I said, resignedly. Then, I had an idea. "I'll talk to Benito about getting paint ball guns and equipment so that they can learn how to shoot a moving target without thinking about the killing aspect. If we got all the equipment to go with it, they would be safe."

"I've played paint ball before," Ben winced. "It fucking hurts!"

"I know, but maybe that will help them take it seriously. I don't want to scare them, but I need Finn to be prepared," I said, feeling guilty for even thinking about teaching Finn about guns. I hadn't touched one in years. I also knew that Bella wouldn't be happy.

"Did you hear what happened on Wolf island?" Ben asked, looking at me seriously.

"No," I said, surprised by the concerned look on his face.

Wolf island was a larger island further out to sea that we traded with frequently for wheat.

"There was a fire," Ben said. "Two families' homes were burned down and one family died in the fire."

Before I was able to voice my thoughts, Ben interrupted. "No zombies were created. The bodies completed burned up in the fire."

He looked sick for a moment. "It's terrible that I'm relieved that there was nothing left of the bodies of a family."

I didn't have time to say anything because at that moment Nate came out of their cabin and I looked up the hill towards mine and saw Finn running down the hill.

"We'll talk later," I said. "Do you and Angela want to join us for supper? I don't know what we're having, but Bella has been stockpiling berries for desert."

"That sounds great. I'll let Angela know when I get back," Ben said with a smile.

A few hours later, I headed to the eastern shore of the island with my fishing net and poles to meet up with Jasper.

I was surprised to find Emmett on the shore with Sage, his seven-year-old daughter.

"Are you guys coming fishing too?" I asked, as I came up behind them.

"Hi, Uncle Edward!" Sage said with a big goofy smile that was all Emmett.

"No," Emmett said as he grabbed a hold of the back of his daughter's shirt so she wouldn't tumble into the ocean. "We just decided to go for a walk, so that Rose could sleep in a bit."

I nodded in understanding.

"It must be a full moon," I said with a smirk. "The munchkins are restless."

"I'm not a munchkin!" Sage said indignantly.

"Nate?" Emmett asked with a knowing look.

"Nate…" I said with a sigh.

"What about Nate?" Sage asked, practically climbing up Emmett's leg to get into the conversation.

"Nothing, sweetheart," Emmett said, kissing her loudly on the cheek once she was in his arms.

"Yuck, Dad!" she complained, wiping furiously at her cheek.

"We should get back," Emmett said, hitching Sage higher in his arms. "Are you going out with Jasper today?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd give Peter a break," I said.

"Sounds good," Emmett said. "I'll see you later."

At that moment, I heard Jasper coming down the hill, carrying his own fishing equipment.

He passed Emmett and Sage on their way up the hill and I laughed as the only acknowledgement that they made as they walked past each other was a fist bump.

"Ready to go?" Jasper asked, as he met me by the water.

A cool draught of air whipped over the waves as we pushed the boat out into the water. I could already feel the chill of the misty air as it settled into my sweater. However, once we were out on the open water the sun would warm me up.

I climbed into the front of the boat and left Jasper to start the engine and steer because he was a pro after years of being one of our community's main fisherman.

It was a godsend that we'd had enough of a harvest a few years ago that we could trade with the Seawolves for a motorboat. Our rowboats and even our sailboat weren't dependable modes of transportation for ocean fishing.

Once he had steered us out of the labyrinth of hidden rocks that surrounded our island, he dropped the anchor and threw out nets and his fishing line.

As we waited for the fish to take the bait, I enjoyed the quiet and fresh air.

I watched as Jasper tilted his head upwards as he pondered the weather. Jasper had developed an uncanny way of predicting the weather based on the clouds. He tried to explain it to me once, but I wasn't able to catch on to it.

After a decade in the open air, out in all weather, Jasper's skin was more tanned than the rest of us and he had the beginnings of crows-feet at the corners of his eyes. But the biggest difference between the Jasper of ten years ago and today was that he didn't have that constant nervous energy that he used to have. On the open water, he was relaxed.

"What's with the staring?" he asked after I'd been looking at him for too long.

"Nothing," I said. "I just spaced out there for a while."

"Late night?" he asked with a leer.

"Stop it," I said. "It was nothing like that. The kids woke me up early this morning."

"Ah, the dynamic duo are at it again?" he asked with a huff of laughter.

"They wanted to go searching for algae," I said, smiling.

"I bet it was to get back at Clara and Chloe. Yesterday, she came back covered in mud and moss, saying that they'd set a trap for the boys. My little girl is getting pretty good at camouflage," he said, proudly.

"That's probably it," I said. "Well, there's worse things that they could be getting into."

I was then reminded of my conversation with Ben from earlier.

"I think its time to start training the kids on how to protect themselves. I know you've already started with Clara, but I think it's time for Max, Nate, Finn, Chloe, and Lily to learn," I said.

Jasper nodded.

"I hated teaching Clara about weapons, but I don't ever want her to be unprepared like we were when the zombies first came," he said.

I explained to him about getting paint ball equipment so that we wouldn't have to use ammunition and it would give the kids as close to a real situation as we could give them without putting them in danger with the right safety gear.

He thought it was a great idea, but in the mean time we should work more on bows and arrows with them.

A few weeks later, the Seawolves had brought us the equipment we needed to begin training the kids. They brought us more than we needed since paint ball equipment wasn't something that was high in demand in the zombie apocalypse, so we had enough to work with everyone. A lot more than the children wanted to participate because most people worried that they'd become rusty over the years. It was the first time that I realized that it wasn't just me that had it in the back of my mind that our idyllic life could be ripped away from us at any moment.

Bella and Esme didn't like the idea of teaching Finn and Chloe how to use weapons. I understood where they were coming from, but I felt it was a necessity. They didn't argue much against it because I knew that they understood deep down inside.

Now all I had to do was convince Finn that it was something he needed to learn.

"Why?" he asked me one day after I found out from Jasper that Finn had skipped out on his lesson.

"It's important, Finn. I don't want you to be scared, but you need to know how to defend yourself," I said.

"You and Mom will take care of me," he said, looking uncomfortably at the paintball gun that I'd placed in his hands.

"Of course, we will," I said, soothingly. "But we're not with you every moment of every day. What if we're not around some time when something dangerous happens? Or what if you see a juicy bird and I'm not there to shoot it for lunch?" I asked, trying to make our conversation lighter.

Finn smiled faintly.

"Okay," he said, quietly.

"Let's go, practice together," I said, reaching out to take his hand. "If you can hit the target, I'll let you have the biggest piece of blueberry cobbler."

Finn's eyes brightened up because he knew it was my favorite.

I tried to train with him every day after that with either the bow or one of the paintball guns. It made him nervous practicing with other people, so we did it together.

Once he was adept and relaxed when shooting at a target, I talked to the others about having a big game of capture the flag. It would require everyone to try to move quietly through the woods and shoot the other team with their paintball guns to get the other team's flag. I promised Finn that I would stick to his side because he didn't like the idea of shooting at other people.

On the day of the game, Bella and I could tell that Finn was anxious.

"You won't leave me, right?" Finn asked nervously.

My heart clenched at the anxiety written across his face.

"I promise, buddy. I won't leave your side," I said as I pulled him into a hug.

We dressed the kids in thick clothing and helmets to keep them as protected as they could be from the paintball bullets before we headed out to play.

It ended up being quite fun, even Finn seemed to be enjoying himself.

Because there were so many of us playing, it took most of the day to whittle down the teams so there was only a handful of us left. Finn and I were in the opposite team's territory, but I still had no idea where their flag was.

We were both hiding behind a large uprooted tree when I saw Emmett creep out of the woods.

I leaned down to Finn and whispered in his ear.

"Okay, you're up. Take your time aiming."

With a smile, Finn used the scope to focus on Emmett once he'd turned around to look in the opposite direction from us.

With a loud crack, Finn fired and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that he'd shot Emmett in the butt.

With a loud yelp, Emmett dropped his gun and grabbed his left ass cheek.

"We got you," I laughed as I stood up to tease Emmett.

However, before I could say anything else, there was another loud crack and I was suddenly splattered with green paint across my chest. It was so startling that I fell backwards.

For a moment, I was stunned at the sting and suddenness of it. Then, I saw Clara's head pop over the overturned tree. She wasn't wearing thick clothing like the rest of the kids. Instead, she'd covered herself in mud and had strapped fir branches around her.

"You need to look up, Uncle Edward," she said with a smile that was all Jasper. "I've been watching you guys from that fir tree for a while. Dad taught me to be patient and to keep my eyes open."

I laughed and said, "You're right. I should have been more careful."

However, when I looked over at Finn, my laughter immediately stopped.

Finn was cowering behind the tree with his hands covering his head and his gun a few feet away from him as if he'd thrown it.

I quickly crawled over to him.

"Hey buddy," I said, pulling his hands away from his head. "You're okay..."

With a sob, Finn crawled into my lap and hugged me so tightly that it was hard to breathe.

"I hurt Uncle Emmett," he whimpered. "Then, you got hurt. I was supposed to protect you."

"Shhh," I murmured, kissing the top of his head. "We're both ok. It's just a game, Finn. We're both ok."

Emmett joined me on the ground.

"I'm okay, Finn," he said, gently as he rubbed Finn's back. "Were you aiming for my butt?"

Finn turned his head slightly and looked at Emmett.

"Yes," he said with a watery smile.

"Well, you succeeded, kiddo," Emmett said with a grin. "Auntie Rose will be so proud. She's always telling everyone I'm a pain in the butt."

"And you hit your target," Clara said from her perch on top of the tree. "Even though Uncle Emmett's butt is an easy target because it's sooooo big."

"Hey!" Emmett whined.

Finn giggled, but burrowed his face against my chest.

"I think I'm going to take him home," I said, standing up with Finn still nestled in my arms. He was too big to carry, but neither of us wanted to let each other go.

That night I was so restless that I got out of bed, so that I didn't wake up Bella.

After pacing the house for a while, I found myself in Finn's room.

He was so peaceful, curled up in his bed and clutching the stuffed horse that Maddie had made for him when he was a baby. He hadn't played with it for a long time, but now he had it tucked tightly against his chest. It broke my heart that he felt that he needed the security of it.

"He'll be okay," Bella whispered as she wormed herself under my arm.

"I shouldn't have pushed him," I said, sadly.

"You're trying to teach him how to protect himself," she said, stretching up to kiss me. "He's just going to take a little time and reassurance from us."

I sighed and kissed her before letting her go and sitting down on the edge of Finn's bed. I smoothed back his hair and was relieved to see the little smile that he got in his sleep when Bella or I petted him.

"I'm going to stay here for a bit," I said to Bella.

"Okay," she said, kissing me on the side of the head before she left.

After that day, I didn't push Finn to learn how to shoot. I hated guns and I didn't want to force Finn into using one. I never wanted him to think that he was a disappointment to me, so I never mentioned it again. Instead, I took him to Carlisle and asked him to teach Finn about first aid. Finn was thrilled to learn how to help people when they were sick. He came back to the house one day in an absolute fit of excitement because he'd watched Carlisle stitch Katie's hand.

"Uncle Carlisle told me that he'd teach me how to stitch. He said it's just like sewing, but way cooler," he practically shouted.

I shuddered, remembering the time I had to stitch up Bella's arm. There was nothing cool about stitching together flesh. However, maybe my little boy was a doctor in the making. It was a wonderful thought.

* * *

It was another morning, up early with Jasper, that we headed out to fish. It was getting a lot colder and we didn't have enough food stockpiled yet. Therefore, we decided to stay out later and fish as much as we could. By the time Jasper called it quits, we'd caught a large amount of herring and salmon that we could salt pack for winter.

However, on the trip back to the island, Jasper suddenly cut the engine of the motorboat.

"What—" I began, but he cut me off.

"Do you smell that?" he asked.

I lifted my head to the breeze and inhaled deeply, noticing right away the acrid smell of smoke on the wind.

"Something's burning," I said, immediately on alert.

We were frozen for a moment, smelling the air to try to determine where it was coming from.

"It's not our island," Jasper.

My relief was short-lived when I realized that if we could smell it, it must be nearby.

"It must be Whitehead island," I said in a panic.

Jasper immediately started the engine and swung the boat in the direction of Whitehead.

We saw the flames on the beach when we got closer and my heart relaxed a little seeing that it wasn't on the side of the island where Owen or Jack's cabins were located.

On the shore, I saw Owen and his family frantically grabbing buckets of water from the ocean to douse the fire. They'd created a chain to pass the water-filled buckets to the burning bushes and trees that were lining the beach.

Before we'd even dragged the boat onto the shore, I jumped out grabbing our bailing bucket and filling it with water.

Lily and Philip had fir branches to fan the flames in an attempt to counteract the wind coming off the water that was pushing the fire inland.

"Where are Jack and Gianna?" Jasper asked, his voice hoarse from the smoke as he threw another bucket of water on one of the trees.

Owen shook his head grimly. "Haven't seen them," he puffed as he gulped for air.

It took us another ten minutes of frantically dragging water to soak the bushes and trees before the fire was extinguished.

By that time, a boat from McManus island had arrived, carrying their own buckets to stop the fire.

"What happened?" John asked as he jumped out of his boat.

"Don't know," Arlene said. "We smelled smoke and came running, but there was no one here, just the fire."

"Where's Jack and his family?" John asked, looking around. "Either he or Gianna should have smelled the smoke."

"We need to check on them," I said in concern.

Something was very wrong here. I couldn't figure our what had started the fire. It didn't just magically start itself. And why wasn't Jack here? There was no way that he hadn't smelled the smoke.

We must have been thinking the same thing because almost as one we started running, heading through the woods to get to Jack and Gianna's which was the only other cabin on the island.

I crashed through bushes ignoring the way that they scratched me even through my pants. Branches snapped against my face, but I pushed them aside. I barely felt them as I worried about Jack and Gianna and their little boy Gus.

When we first reached their cabin, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary besides things being abnormally still. There weren't even any sounds of the wildlife that usually surrounded us.

However, as I got closer to the cabin, I noticed things amiss. Someone had been doing laundry, but the newly washed blankets were lying on the ground not having made it to the clothes line and the tub of soapy water was knocked onto its side and was soaking into the ground.

The front door to their cabin was wide open, and as I got closer I realized it was hanging off its hinges.

Something bad had happened here.

I reached down unconsciously for my gun before realizing that I didn't have one. I never travelled with one anymore.

Jasper tapped me on the shoulder and motioned that he was going to check the perimeter and I nodded. Looking around, I found the only weapon I could, which was a jagged rock that I kicked free from the ground.

John and Owen were with me, each having grabbed whatever they could to defend themselves as we approached the cabin.

I chose to go first, creeping up the stairs as quietly as I could.

Stepping inside the dark cabin, I saw right away that a struggle had taken place. Jack and Gianna kept a pretty spotless home, but now there were broken things strewn everywhere. And worse than that I noticed brown splotches dotting the floor… blood.

Steeling myself, I continued into the cabin, looking everywhere for an intruder, but what I found was worse.

Jack and Gianna were on the floor in their bedroom, their bodies covered in bruises and splattered with blood.

"Oh my god," I gasped, rushing over to them.

Gianna lay half sprawled on top of Jack, her face pressed into his chest.

I reached down and brushed her hair back from her face. For a moment, I thought she was dead until she coughed and her eyes fluttered.

"Gianna," I said, smoothing her hair back from her face and gently shaking her.

However, it was Jack that jerked awake with a cry.

John who'd knelt next to me, put a settling hand on Jack's shoulder.

However, Jack's eyes were unfocused and I knew because of the blood that soaked his pale blonde hair that he'd been hit in the head hard.

Behind me, I heard Owen moving around the rest of the house looking for Gus. I prayed to god that the little five-year-old was ok.

"Jack?" I tried to ask soothingly. "Jack, who did this?"

Jack fought to sit up, but I kept him still. I didn't know what kind of injury that he might have had.

"Where's Gus?" he asked, his voice garbled.

I looked behind me to check with Owen, but the bleak look on his face told me that he hadn't found the little boy.

"We'll find him, Jack," I said, squeezing his shoulder.

It was then that Jack noticed Gianna.

"Gigi!" he whimpered. "Oh my god…"

He tried to crawl towards her, but I kept him where he was. He could have a brain injury or internal bleeding.

John was using water from their rain barrel to try to wake Gianna up. With a water soaked rag, he wiped down her forehead and placed it on the back of her neck.

It was clear that she was starting to come to when she started whimpering their son's name.

"Gigi…" Jack sobbed.

Now that she was awake, John quickly assessed their injuries and saw that Jack's were the worst, so we changed places.

Owen and I helped Gianna to sit up.

"Gianna, what happened?" Owen asked her gently. "Who hurt you, honey?"

Over the years, Owen and Arlene had become like parents to the young couple and by extension grandparents to Gus.

"I don't know. I heard banging coming from the cabin and then I heard Jack cry out. I was outside doing laundry, so I wasn't… I couldn't…" she stuttered.

"It's okay…" Owen soothed, rubbing her back gently. "Take your time."

At that moment, Jasper entered the cabin, looking around warily.

I stood up and walked over to him, leaving Jack and Owen to tend to the couple.

"Where's Gus?" Jasper asked, in a calm dispassionate voice.

I looked at him carefully, recognizing that detached quality even though I hadn't heard it in ten years.

"He's not here," I said. "Did you see anything?"

"I found a trail of maybe three or four people that led down to the shore," he said. "I'm sure they set the fire on the other side of the island to draw us away."

I looked at him in shock, not having thought it through yet.

"Why?" I asked out loud even though Jasper didn't have the answer any more than I did.

"They wanted Gus," Gianna said, pushing Owen's arms away and standing up woozily. "We were just in the way. Before they knocked me out, one of them apologized and said they just needed children."

A feeling of dread hit me so hard that I felt short of breath.

I needed to get home. I needed to get to Finn.


	2. Wolf island

**MAIN CHARACTERS**

 **FUNDY ISLES ARCHIPELAGO**

 _ **Whitehead island**_

Owen (61) and Arlene (55)

\- Philip (34)

\- John (27)

\- Sue (22)

Jack (30) and Gianna (32)

\- Gus (5)

 _ **McManus island**_

John (48) and Nadia (48)

\- Maddie (23)

 _ **Pendleton**_ _ **island**_

Bella (31) and Edward (30)

\- Finn (10)

Jasper (33) and Alice (30)

\- Clara (12)

Ben (37) and Angela (35)

\- Isaac (19)

\- Nate (10)

\- Hannah (six months)

Carlisle (57) and Esme (52)

\- Chris (22)

\- Chloe (10)

Masen (36) and Leah (34)

\- Austin (20)

\- Max (16)

\- Lily (14)

\- Emma (5)

Emmett (36) and Rosalie (38)

\- Sage (7)

Embry (35) and Katie (29)

\- Casper (6)

Jane (27) and Caroline (32)

Quil (29) and Claire (30)

Seth (28)

Tia (48) and Peter (52)

 _ **The Seawolves**_

Benito (62)- leader of the Seawolves

* * *

 **FINN**

Mom and Dad wouldn't tell me what was going on. I hated when they did that. I wasn't a baby anymore. But it wasn't just Mom and Dad. Everyone was acting weird. They were whispering all the time and we weren't allowed out of their sights.

Now, Sage, Chloe, Clara, Nate, and I were sitting on the raft in the lake. It was the only place that the adults wouldn't be able to hear us. They wouldn't come in the water because they said it was freezing.

"They won't let me go anywhere," Chloe whined. Her legs were hanging off the raft, and she was splashing us as she kicked.

"Cut it out, Chloe!" Nate said, wiping water off his face.

"Daddy got mad at me when I came down here to play with Clara and didn't tell him," Sage said.

I was surprised because Uncle Emmett never got mad at Sage even when she was really bad.

"Even those guys called the Seawolves are here," Clara said. "They never come here."

I'd only met the Seawolves once when Mom took me down to meet the boat. I couldn't wait at home for her to bring back the baby goat she'd bought. Billy was so cute as a baby, but now, he was huge and ate everything, including the laces off my sneakers the time I forgot them in his pen. Mom was so mad that she made me spend the day picking gross mushrooms and digging up arrowhead roots from the mud on the left side of the lake.

"Jack and Gianna are here too and they don't have Gus," Nate said, looking nervous. "And Gianna just keeps crying. Even at lunch, she cried and cried."

"I heard that John and Nadia are coming tonight too. Dad told Mom that they were going to stay at our house," I said, frowning.

"Maybe we could ask Max or Lily," Nate whispered.

"I don't know," Sage said. "They think we're babies too."

Lily was only fourteen, but she thought she was a grown-up, so I knew she wouldn't help. Plus, she was really mad at us. Sometimes, we liked to spy on her because she'd get annoyed and chase us, but one time we caught her kissing a guy from McManus island when we had a Christmas party on our island. She begged us not to tell Masen, so we agreed if she gave us all her maple candy. It was all going great until Sage cracked and told Aunt Rose. Masen gave her lots of work to do as punishment because he said she was too young to have a boyfriend even though the guy was only thirteen. And even though she was the one in trouble, we all got punished by our parents.

"We could spy on them," Clara said. "I'm good at hiding."

I grumbled at that. We'd all been spying on Lilly that day, but only Clara got away without getting caught.

"Yeah… We know," Nate said, grumpily.

Uncle Jasper was so cool. He was always teaching Clara fun things. Her parents also never cared when she ruined her clothes with the potions we made out of algae or mud and other stuff. Aunt Alice wasn't even mad the time when Clara sprayed her with the perfume we'd made.

When I did that to Mom, she screamed and told me to go see Dad. He laughed really hard until I sprayed him with it too. I didn't think it had smelled all that bad.

"I don't know…" I said, hesitating. If they caught us, we were going to be in so much trouble. I hated it when Dad and Mom were upset with me.

"Don't you want to know what's going on?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, but…" I began, then stopped. I didn't want him to think that I was a chicken.

"We can hide in that big tree behind your house. It's really easy to climb and hide in," Clara explained, leaning in towards us.

Clara was always so calm about everything. Like right now we were all kind of nervous, but not her. She was busy playing with her raggedy blonde hair that looked like she never brushed it. The only time she ever got angry was when she was hungry. If supper was late, watch out.

"We can't all go…" I said. Dad had already told me that we were all going to be staying the night at Masen and Leah's, so if we all left Leah would notice.

"We can pick names. The top two people will spy with Clara," Sage said, her forehead crinkled in seriousness. It was strange to see her that way. She was always so goofy, just like her dad. She looked like Aunt Rose, but much sillier.

"How are we going to choose?" Chloe said.

"We can do blue shoes," Sage said. Then ordered, "Everybody's feet in the circle."

With a sigh, I put my feet in the center as Sage said the rhyme that she'd read in a book, pointing at each of our feet. "Blue shoes, blue shoes, who's it? Not you," she said, pointing at one of Chloe's feet. With a whine, Chloe pulled her left foot out of the circle.

In the end it was between Nate and I to be the third person to spy along with Clara and Sage. I didn't want to be chosen, but I couldn't back out because I didn't want them to know I was scared.

"Blue shoes, blue shoes, who's it? Not you," Sage said, pointing at Nate's foot.

"No fair…" Nate whined, crossing his arms with a scowl.

"Don't be a sore loser," Clara said.

"Finn doesn't even want to do it. He's scared," Nate said.

"No, I'm not!" I said indignantly.

In a huff, Nate jumped up, causing the raft to teeter back and forth as he jumped in the water.

"Sorry, Chloe," I said. Only she and Nate hadn't been chosen.

"It's okay," she said with a good-natured shrug. She was a lot like her mom, Aunt Esme, who was always so nice.

That night we had to wait until Emma and Casper fell asleep. She was five and he was six, so they were both big on tattling, especially Casper who always ran to his parents Embry and Katie whenever we did something bad. He was so excited about being at a sleep over that he just kept talking and talking. Eventually, Nate made up a bedtime story for him, so that he'd fall asleep. By the time that happened, it was already dark out and Clara was itching to get going.

As quietly as we could, we got out of bed and made lumps under our blankets so that if Leah checked on us she would think we were sleeping.

Then, crawling on our stomachs we came out of the bedroom and moved down the hall. There was a little bit of light coming from Leah and Masen's bedroom door, but their door was shut.

"This is fun," Sage whispered.

"Shhh," I hissed, which caused her to giggle to herself.

Thankfully, Leah didn't notice as we made it from the back room and out the front door.

Crouched low to the ground, we ran up the hill and behind my house. It was a full moon, but I was still a little scared that I'd get lost. But half-way up the hill, I saw the light coming from our living room window.

Suddenly, Clara grabbed me and yanked me to the ground, taking Sage with us.

Before I had a chance to get angry, I heard footsteps nearby.

I recognized Peter as he walked past us, not noticing us lying still on the ground. He had a gun slung over his shoulder, which was strange because he never joined everyone in gun training.

Once he'd passed us by, we ran up the rest of the hill and behind my house. Clara quickly climbed one of the trees and then helped me and Sage. The tree was short and fat. Its branches spread wide, so we could climb it in just minutes and crawl out along the thick branches until we could see in my living room window. It was super uncomfortable because the branches were prickly and jabbed at me through my clothes. But, eventually, I wiggled enough that I found a comfy place on one of the branches. That was when I looked into the window and froze. It looked like Uncle Emmett was staring right back at me.

"Daddy," Sage whispered.

I was ready for him to say something to Mom and Dad, but after a few seconds he just turned back to look at the others in the room.

Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch. Dad had his arm around Mom's shoulders and she was leaning against him. That's how they sat every evening when Dad read us stories or even made up some, while Mom acted them out with shadow puppets on the wall. However, this time both of them looked really upset.

A man I didn't recognize was pacing back and forth in the living room. He wasn't a tall guy, but he looked kind of scary. He had all these drawings on his arms and a shaved head.

"It hasn't just happened on Wolf and Whitehead island. It's happening on the mainland too. They set fires as distractions while they grab the youngest."

"Was that what happened on Wolf island?" Dad asked. "There was a fire, but the whole family died in it."

Sage sucked in a big lungful of air, but Clara put her hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Were the bodies found?" Katie asked.

Ben shook his head. "They were burned up in the fire."

"That's highly unlikely," a guy with red hair said. "A fire has to burn extremely hot to turn bones into ash."

"Did you know how many children were in the family?" Mom asked.

"There were two children," Ben said. "I'm not sure how old one of them was, but the other was born on Wolf island."

"From what I heard, another house was burned too, but the family survived," John said.

"Are there any children in the family?" The red-headed guy asked.

Ben answered. "There's only a mother and son and he is a teenager."

"Has anyone talked to the family?" The guy with designs on his arms said.

"We would have thought you'd have had contact with them, Benito," Uncle Carlisle said. "We don't really associate with Wolf island that much."

"They keep to themselves. We just help them get supplies," Benito said, running a hand over his bald head.

"Maybe that's where we should start," Uncle Jasper said. "Tomorrow, a few of us should go to Wolf island and talk to the family. Maybe they saw or heard something."

"What about my baby?" Gianna asked, tears running down her face.

Jack looked really sad too.

"This is how we find Gus," Ben said gently. "We can't just run off searching. The Seawolves have been searching the water for any boats that might have him. But beyond that the only thing we can do is retrace the kidnappers' steps."

"That's not good enough," Gianna cried.

Jack put his arm around Gianna and held her tight.

"Shhh," he hushed her. "We'll find him."

"I'll go," Dad said as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'll go to Wolf island and talk to the family."

"Edward…" Mom said, in a worried voice.

She was chewing on her lip, like she usually did when she was mad or nervous about something.

Dad turned to her and kissed her forehead.

"We need to find out, Bella," he said to her. "I can't just wait around, watching for any intruder. We need all the information we can get. Whoever they are, they're snatching kids. Once I know more, I'll know how to protect Finn."

All the air left my chest and I had to gulp air to keep breathing. Gus was missing. A whole family on Wolf island died and Dad was worried that something would happen to me too.

"He'll be safe with you until I get back," he said. "Just keep your gun with you at all times and make sure he never leaves your sight. I won't be gone long."

"I think I need to go too," Carlisle said. "I'd like to check for bone fragments in the burned down house."

"I'll go too," Uncle Jasper said.

"I'll take you," Benito said.

"Is it going to cost us anything?" Uncle Jasper asked. He sounded weird. His voice was really flat, but maybe he was just tired.

"No, I won't charge you," Benito said, frowning at Uncle Jasper. "If a group is hunting for children, that's everyone's responsibility."

They all got quiet after that, so Clara gestured that we should leave.

Quickly, we dropped out of the tree and ran down the hill. I grabbed a hold of Sage's hand because I didn't want her to fall in the dark. I felt bad because she was crying a little. She was too little to have gone with us. She was only seven. I wanted to cry too, but I had to be a big kid.

Quietly we crept back into Leah's house and down the hall where we were all supposed to be sleeping.

Nate and Chloe were still awake, so we told them in whispers what we found out. I could tell they were really scared too, but Nate tried to hide it. Chloe was just quiet, so I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I want Mommy," Sage whimpered, a tear running down her face. I could tell by the hitch in her breathing that she was close to a full-blown crying fit, but I didn't know what to do. When Sage freaked out, she _freaked_ out.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Nate pulled her into his arms and shushed her. He patted her back and let her snuggle against his chest to quiet her. Eventually, everyone else fell asleep but I couldn't. All I wanted was to be with Mom and Dad. Whenever I had a nightmare, they would let me sleep in between them. But now I couldn't tell them that I knew what was happening.

I couldn't help crying a little as I fell asleep.

* * *

 **EDWARD**

I woke up early that morning with the sun only beginning to lighten the room. I wanted to get Finn from Masen and Leah's, so he could spend a few hours with us before I had to leave for Wolf island.

I tried to hide from Bella how worried I was about leaving the two of them alone, but I was pretty sure she knew. I'd tossed and turned all night, not able to shake the worry that Finn could just disappear and I wouldn't even know where to look for him.

"You'll only be gone for the day," Bella said, her head resting on my shoulder as I sat on the edge of the bed. "We'll stick close to home. Finn and I can work on winterizing our garden."

"Jack and Gianna were in their home when Gus was snatched. Home doesn't mean safety right now. Maybe you guys can spend the day with Rosalie and Emmett," I said, turning my head so I could look into her concerned eyes. I kissed her forehead, trying to smooth out the creases formed by her frown. "Safety in numbers, right?"

"Okay," she breathed out, kissing my shoulder. "Go get our boy."

I turned and kissed her lips before getting up.

"Stay in bed a little longer," I told her. "I'll get Finn and then make breakfast for everyone. John and Nadia will probably leave around the same time as I do."

Bella nodded and settled back down in bed.

Pulling the blankets up to her chin, she smiled gently at me. I couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. She was just as beautiful now as she was ten years ago when Finn was born. Really, she was more beautiful. She'd always been on the thin side, because back then we'd been fighting for our survival. Now, her face was softer, less angular. Bella sometimes complained about how her body had changed after Finn, but I loved it. She'd given me such a wonderful gift and I couldn't love her anymore for it.

"What?" she asked with a giggle.

"I love you," I said, smiling back at her.

"I love you too," she said, burrowing deeper in the blankets. "Now, let me sleep for a few more minutes."

"See you in a bit," I said, leaving her in peace.

I quietly crept through the living room, so that I wouldn't wake Nadia and John who were sleeping in the loft. I'd built an extension onto our one room cabin about five years ago when Finn had gotten older. Our bedroom now extended off the living room and Finn's room was in the loft. He loved it because it was just like a tree house in that he needed to use the built-in ladder to climb up there. Bella had been a little nervous about him sleeping up there alone, but I'd built a railing with thick slats, so that he couldn't fall off the edge.

Over the years, I'd gotten better at building and I was proud of our home that I'd built with my own two hands. It had taken a lot of blood sweat and tears, but every board, every notched piece of wood was placed there by me.

Carefully, I opened the door to the cabin and slipped outside without waking anyone up.

The air was cold, leaving puffs of condensation in the air as I breathed. With the seasons changing, I worried about Winter. Not only did we have to harvest in the next few weeks, but we had to find Gus and patrol the island to keep the kids safe.

I could see some people were already up. Many of them were going to the cookhouse for breakfast. A lot of people chose to eat together in the building that was in the center of our community. Emmett and Embry had built it for that purpose. Bella and I usually chose to cook for ourselves at home, but we often joined everyone after supper to play cards or tell stories to the kids.

I waved at them as I passed by on my way to Masen and Leah's. Once I got there, I could see through the window that Leah was already awake with Emma, so I knocked on the door quietly. When she saw me through the window, she waved me in with a smile on her face. It had taken Leah a long time to forgive me for the death of her mother. She'd always known that it wasn't my fault that Sue decided to help me escape from James. However, I was a constant reminder that her mother had died for no other reason than a blood-thirsty psychopath's need for control.

"He's not awake yet, but you can go get him. I'm going to get the rest of them up soon, so we can go to the cookhouse," she said, wiping flour off her cheek. We'd gotten a shipment of wheat from Wolf island a few weeks ago, so it looked like she was making bread.

"Thanks for keeping him last night," I said as I walked towards the bedroom. However, she put her hand out to stop me. "Masen told me what's been happening. Good luck today. I hope you find something that can help us keep them safe."

I patted her on the shoulder with a sad smile. We were all worried about our children. We'd all naively thought that these kinds of dangers were behind us.

I snuck into the back bedroom and couldn't help but smile. The kids were sleeping in a dog pile, not even in their own sleeping bags. Finn was sleeping on his stomach with Chloe and Sage practically straddling his back while Nate was tucked in securely next to them. I was surprised that Finn could even breathe. I snorted when I saw that for some reason Clara was sleeping the opposite way with one arm slung across Nate's legs and her feet practically in his face. Carefully, I lifted Sage off Finn, smiling fondly as she hung like a limp doll not waking up at all. She was a cute little girl with strawberry blonde hair cut in a short bob, and chubby cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. Next, I gently nudged Chloe, who was a clone of Esme, off him, causing her to role onto her back with a snuffle.

Finn stirred as I picked him up, so I quietly shushed him.

"Dad?" he asked sleepily as I carried him out of the room.

"Morning, bud," I said, smiling down at him.

Once we were out of the room, I sat him on his feet and helped him pull on his coat and boots.

"Why are you here so early?" he asked me with a yawn, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm going to be gone for the day, so I thought it would be nice to spend a few hours together before I have to go," I said, smoothing back his unruly hair.

At my words, Finn stood up straighter, suddenly awake.

"I don't want you to go," he said, a look that I couldn't quite identify in his eyes.

"I'm just going for the day, Finn," I said, slinging an arm around his shoulder and leading him outside.

However, instead of leaning into me like he usually did, Finn was rigid.

"I thought you said, you'd help me set up a trap for that grey squirrel behind the house," he said, stepping away from me only to stare up at me in defiance. "You made a promise, so that means you have to stay here and help me."

"We'll do it tomorrow," I said, pulling him back to me. However, he resisted.

"No! It has to be today!" he snapped, going from sleepy to angry at lightening speed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, in concern. Finn was not an angry kid. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No… so you need to take care of me," he said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

His face was pale and his eyes looked a little red-rimmed, so maybe he was getting sick.

"Look, bud," I said. "Mom will take care of you until I get back."

Finn turned away from me and started stomping up the hill.

I followed closely behind him and saw that John was sitting on our front porch smoking his pipe. John's hair was completely gray now even though he was only in his late forties. It was a striking contrast with his tanned skin. He smiled and greeted us as we crested the hill. However, Finn stomped past him without a word in response.

"Finn!" I snapped, but he ignored me and went into the house.

"Sorry about that," I said. "I think he might be coming down with something."

"No worries," John responded with a slight smile. "We're all on edge and kids can sense these things."

I nodded, still feeling worried. I hated that on the day I had to go away that Finn was sick. It just made leaving him that much harder.

"I'm going to make some porridge," I said. "Come on in when you're finished."

"Will do," John said and went back to puffing on his pipe.

Inside Nadia and Bella were awake and puttering around the kitchen. Bella had already put a pot of water on the griddle over the fire for tea and porridge while Nadia was setting the table So, I started pulling out the ingredients from the cupboards. Thankfully, we'd tapped the maple trees this year because porridge was quite bland without it.

As I moved around the kitchen, Finn came over and stood next to me.

"Can you show me how to make porridge?" he asked.

"Sure," I said. "But I thought you didn't like porridge."

"I like it with maple syrup," he said, grumpily.

"Okay," I said, lifting him up so that he sat on the counter.

I went about mixing the ingredients, showing Finn how much of each I needed. However, he didn't seem like he was paying attention. He had a grip on the hem of my shirt as I worked and then once the food was ready, he insisted on sitting on my lap as we ate. I looked at Bella in concern because he hadn't done that in years.

It was clear that he knew something was wrong even though we'd been careful not to talk about it in front of him.

I took him outside with me to feed Billy so that I could talk to him.

While he was handing me a bowl of feed, I asked, "Is there something you want to tell me, bud?"

He didn't say anything for a minute and then shrugged.

"Nah," he said. "I'm just not feeling good."

I knew there was more to it than that, but just then I saw Jasper waving at me from down the hill, signalling that it was time to go.

"Okay," I said. "Uncle Jasper is signalling that it's time to go. I'll be back by supper, okay?"

The look he gave me when I said that made me want to cave. He looked like me, but his facial expressions were like Bella's and right now he was giving me the sad look that Bella gave me when she wanted me to do something for her.

I looked away quickly before I cracked and ushered him into the house with me.

I took a moment to say good bye to everyone and then headed down the hill to Jasper's so the three of us could meet Benito who had dropped his anchor a short distance away from our island.

Once we were on the boat and headed out to sea, I realized that Finn never asked me where I was going.

* * *

I'd never been to Wolf island before, leaving the trading for wheat to others. So, I was surprised at its large size and the fact that it had buildings on it that were from before the world fell apart. I really shouldn't have been surprised. Our island was an anomaly in that it had been completely untouched before us.

Jasper drove our boat to a wharf where others were already tied up. There were a few people milling around on the beach, who approached us when they recognized the Seawolves vessel.

They quickly greeted Benito who had decided to disembark with us along with another Seawolf named Matthew who had once been a police officer.

"Benito, my friend. It's nice to see you," a short man with grey hair said, coming forward and shaking Benito's hand. His greeting was polite, but there was a tightness to his features.

"It's good to see you too, Harry. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances."

Harry's courteous façade dropped off his face and he just looked exhausted.

"So, you've heard," he said. "Things here are not good, my friend."

I noticed at that moment how quiet everyone was. There were around twenty people on the beach and all of them were going about their tasks, yet no one was talking.

It was then that Harry noticed us with Benito. Without acknowledging us, he turned an accusing eye on Benito.

"Who are these people, Benito? You know we don't like strangers on our island, especially at a time like this."

Benito extended his hands in a placating gesture.

"I know, I know Harry," Benito said, soothingly. "I've brought them to help. This is Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper and they are from Pendleton island."

Harry gave us a curt nod, but didn't let down his guard.

"This is not the time for trade," he said, flatly.

Carlisle stepped forward at this point.

"I've come to help. I'm a doctor," he said, calmly.

Harry's eyes widened and a look akin to relief spread across his features. However, it was short-lived when he turned to Benito.

"I don't have anything to trade right now," he said with a defeated look.

"I'm not charging you," Benito said. "These three volunteered to come."

With a smile of thanks, Harry turned to us and shook our hands.

"Thank you so much for coming. Forgive my rudeness. It's been a difficult few days. The Hacheys could use your help. We have a medic on the island, but he doesn't know a lot about how to treat something like this. They got out alive, but Sandra and her son Leo are having breathing problems from the smoke," he said as he ushered us off the beach and towards the houses.

It was strange to walk past houses that were just like the ones that I lived in with my mother, father, and sister. Small bungalows lined the road, some even with window boxes of flowers.

However, the minute we were sheltered from the wind coming off the ocean, the unmistakable smell of smoke hit me and then I saw ahead of us a pile of rubble and ash that was once a family home.

"They're staying with their neighbours," Harry said, gesturing towards a house across the street.

However, before we got there, Jasper stopped us.

"We're not just here to help the family whose house burned down. We'd like to take a look at the other family home."

Harry frowned.

"I don't think—" he began, but was cut off by Jasper.

"There was a fire on Whitehead island set by intruders who were looking for children," Jasper said, bluntly. "We think the same thing might have happened here."

Harry eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"While a fire was burning on the shore of the island, people broke into a family's home and stole their child. One of them apologized to the mother and said that they were only there for her child."

"Oh my god…" Harry said, pulling at his hair in stress.

"But the Hacheys children are grown up. And the other family…" he began but trailed off.

"I'd like to see the other home, so that I can look for bone fragments. I have a feeling that we're not going to find any that belong to children," Matthew said.

I cringed at how blunt he was. Here he was talking about bone fragments when a family had possibly died. A family that I was sure Harry was close to.

All the color drained from Harry's face and he nodded.

"I'll join you after I help the Hachey's," Carlisle said.

I decided to stay with Carlisle, hoping that I could find something out from the family.

Jasper, Matthew, and Benito stayed out on the veranda while Harry knocked on the door.

A small woman who was in her mid-fifties opened the door with a look of sadness and exhaustion on her face.

"Harry," she said with a sigh.

"Hi, Ellen," Harry said, softly. "Are Sandra and Leo awake? I've brought a doctor."

The woman looked over Harry's shoulder at us and sighed with relief.

"Yes," she said. "I'm just trying to make them something to eat. Leo can't keep any food down. Come on in."

The minute I stepped inside, I felt claustrophobic. The air inside was stale and there was a faint hint of smoke permeating the room.

"I'm sorry about how stuffy it is in here," Ellen said apologetically. "We can't keep the windows open because the air is still smoky."

"I understand," Carlisle said. "My name's Carlisle and this is Edward."

"Thanks for coming," Ellen said with a sigh.

"We're sorry for what you're all going through," I said, sympathetically.

"Thank you. It's been a hard time for all of us. We're all trying to support the Hacheys as much as we can and the Hendersons are… were… well-loved," she said, getting choked up mentioning the Hendersons.

"Sandra's in the living room and Leo's in the rec room downstairs," she said, gesturing to the left.

With a pat on the shoulder, Harry said, "I'm going to leave these two with you, Ellen. Benito and a few others want to see where the Hen… where the other house was."

"Okay," she said with a faint smile.

Once Harry had left, Ellen gestured towards a room on the left.

"Sandra's in there and Leo's down in the basement," she said, gesturing towards the end of the hall. "He only comes up to eat. He's taking it all really hard."

Ellen led us into the living room and introduced us to Sandra.

Sandra looked very sick, with a rasping cough that shook her frail body. Carlisle opened his doctor's bag and pulled out a stethoscope and medicines that he'd created. We'd all chipped in to get Carlisle medical equipment for Christmas a few years back. It cost us a lot to have Benito's men go to a hospital for supplies because they were extremely dangerous places since a lot of patients who didn't get treatment turned into the undead. We would have liked to have gotten him medicines, but any that could have been found would have expired. Therefore, Carlisle made his own. He'd become quite adept at making his own medicines with the natural ingredients that surrounded us. He couldn't treat everything, but it was amazing what he'd been able to do.

After listening to her lungs, he prescribed a tea and some chest balm to help with her breathing. Mostly, it would just take time for her lungs to clear.

Next, we went down to the basement to see her son, Leo. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, we could hear his harsh coughing. Ellen knocked on the door.

"Leo, I've got a doctor here to check you out," she said.

"I don't want to see a doctor," a young man's voice said. "I just want to be left alone."

However, Ellen didn't budge. She'd clearly been through this before with him. "We're coming in."

Ellen pushed open the door.

It was dark in the room. The windows were small, only letting in shafts of sunlight in the gloom and he hadn't lit a lamp to illuminate the space. The young man was sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room. His hands were in his hair and he was rocking back and forth slightly.

"I don't want any help-" he began, but was then cut off by a harsh cough that wracked his body.

"This isn't up for discussion," Ellen said. "You've got to stop worrying your mother. She's sick enough."

Leo's head snapped up at her words, a look of guilt swallowing up his features. He looked to be around seventeen or eighteen with dark hair and glasses.

"Fine… fine…" he said, slouching back against the couch, with his head titled back and eyes closed.

"My name is Carlisle and this is Edward," Carlisle said, stepping towards the couch and sitting down on the coffee table in front of Leo.

Leo's head snapped up again.

"I don't know you," he said, his eyes widening in alarm. "Where did you come from?"

Carlisle raised his hands in a soothing gesture.

"We're from Pendleton island. We've come to help."

* * *

I left Carlisle with Leo and went in search of Jasper, Benito, Matthew, and Harry.

As I walked past rows of houses, people eyed me suspiciously. However, when I asked for Benito, they seemed to relax and pointed in the direction of the burned down home.

There was very little left of the house. The charred remains of the Hendersons' home stood in the pale morning light like a skeleton. Nothing had escaped the fire. Even as far as the road, glass littered the ground, indicating that the windows had blown out. The neighbouring houses even had scorch marks and signs of the vinyl siding having melted.

I found the four of them sifting through the ash, looking for bones. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw that they'd already found some.

"As of yet, I haven't seen any sign of bones that would belong to a child," Matthew said to the others. "There were two of them, am I right?"

Harry nodded. "One of the children was five, the other seven."

I shuddered at the thought of such young lives snuffed out. We'd seen so much death, but the death of a child had never gotten any easier and I hoped it never would.

"But you think that two adults were killed?" Harry asked.

"Yes, this is the pelvic bone of a man," the man said, point out the bones on a blanket laid out on the grass. "This one is from a female."

"So, you think the children are alive?" Harry asked, with hope in his eyes.

"There's a chance, but we have no idea where they are or how to get them back," Benito said. "My people haven't found any signs of them and the other communities who have lost people are reticent to talk to us."

Harry gathered people in the center of their small village to discuss what we'd discovered. Carlisle had brought Sandra and Leo to the square as well as Ellen and her family. Leo, however, kept to the fringes of the crowd, looking scared.

I got Jasper's attention and indicated that I was going to talk to Leo.

Casually, I walked over to Leo and stood next to him as we listened to Harry talk.

"You okay?" I asked, not looking at him.

"What do you care?" Leo grunted.

"Your people have been through a lot. I don't completely understand, but I can sympathize," I said, carefully.

"You don't understand anything…" the boy muttered.

We were silent for a while before Leo spoke.

"I don't belong here. I'm going back to Ellen's," he said.

However, before he could leave, I grabbed his wrist.

"What do you mean? Of course you belong here. I don't know your people, but they clearly love you and your mother," I said, trying to be comforting.

"They don't know what I've done," he muttered under his breath.

I let go of his wrist, but I followed him out of the square as he headed towards Delilah's house.

"Why are you following me?" he snarled, spinning towards me when we were out of sight of the square.

"Something is eating at you," I said. "I'm a stranger, but I can tell that you know something about the fires."

"No…" he said, dragging his hand through his hair. "No…"

He turned away from me and started walking faster, clearly wanting to lose me.

However, I kept following him.

Suddenly, he veered away from the road and to a large oak tree which he punched hard enough that I'm sure he broke a bone.

"Hey… hey…" I said, pulling him away. "Take it easy."

Great wracking sobs broke from Leo's chest and he collapsed in my arms.

"They're going to hate me… It's my fault…" he said, his voice muffled against my chest.

"Shhh," I said, soothingly. "It's going to be okay…"

He was a lot older than Finn, but in that moment, he was a child seeking comfort.

"It's not," he choked out. "It's never going to be ok again."

I settled us down at the foot of the tree and tried to soothe him.

"Take deep breaths… in… out…" I said, trying to get him to copy my breathing.

Eventually, his sobs quieted and he sat up, but he didn't look at me.

"I talked to the men who killed the Hendersons and burned our home," he said, in barely a whisper.

I was shocked, but I tried to remain calm, not wanting to spook him.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It was the middle of the night when I was jerked awake by someone's hand pressed over my mouth. I tried to sit up, but someone had me pinned down to the bed. That was when I felt a gun pressed against my temple."

He became too choked up for a moment, but after a few seconds with a shuddering sigh he pulled himself back together.

"I think there were only two of them, but only one of them talked. The man said that if I made any sound that he'd kill me and then my mother. He already knew that we were the only ones in the house. Then, he asked me tons of questions. First, he asked me what year I was born. When I told him that I was born in 2009, he got angry and hit me," he said, quietly.

I looked at his face and noticed a bruise across his cheek and a cut lip.

"He then asked me if there were any families with children born after 2012 in the community. I told him that I wasn't going to tell him, but then he threatened my mom," he continued. "I wouldn't have said anything, but he told me all the horrible things he'd do to her to make me talk. He had a lot of guns and knives on him."

Leo covered his face with his hands at this point, tears leaking out from between his fingers.

"Keep going, Leo," I said, soothingly. "You need to tell me everything."

"They're going to hate me… Everyone… I should be dead…" he sobbed.

I waited patiently, knowing that he'd keep talking. He needed to get it out.

"I told them about the Hendersons. Fred Henderson was in the army, so I thought he'd be able to fight them off or at least give me the chance to tell the others. But once I told the man about them, they hit me and knocked me unconscious. I didn't wake up until I was being dragged out of our burning house."

I didn't ask him why he didn't tell anyone because it was clear the guilt was killing him.

Maybe if he had told someone earlier, they would have had a greater chance of catching the kidnappers, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. Instead, I questioned him about the intruders.

I noticed that Jasper was coming down the road at that point with Carlisle, but I gestured for them to stay away.

However, Leo couldn't describe them because it had been too dark in the room. All he could tell me was that the man smelled like alcohol. But it didn't smell like the beer that we drank or any alcohol that we were able to make, he said it was stronger than that.

I gave the boy a hug and told him that he needed to come clean to his mother and Harry about what had happened.

He looked scared, but he was resigned to it.

"What if they want me gone?" he asked. It wasn't common, but I'd heard of some people being banished for breaking the laws of the community.

"They'll forgive you," I said. "And if they don't, we'll figure something out."

He looked at me with a hint of hope in his eyes.

I patted him on the back and helped him stand up.

"Let me tell them what happened. Go back to Ellen's. If they have questions for you, I'll come and get you," I said as I looked into his tear-filled eyes.

All the air left his lungs in a relieved gush that fogged up his glasses, which were already smudged with tears. He looked very young in that moment.

"Thank you," he said and practically ran down the street towards Ellen's.

Jasper and Carlisle approached me then and I told them everything.

* * *

We didn't get home until shortly before supper. I was exhausted from the stressful day that followed Leo's revelation.

All I wanted to do was be with Bella and Finn, but I knew that there were still long conversations ahead.

"Let's meet at the cook house tonight," Jasper said. "Maybe Alice can take care of the kids tonight. I can fill her in on everything after."

I could hear the sounds of our children playing in the distance, making me walk faster. There was nothing more comforting than the sound of laughing and squealing children. It was so innocent and carefree.

When I came around the corner, I saw outside of Emmett's and Rosalie that the kids were climbing all over Emmett who was on all fours chasing after them. I watched with a grin as Finn launched himself onto Emmett's back, shoving what looked like a wet facecloth down his shirt. With a roar that made Sage and Chloe squeal, Emmett collapsed to the ground, but not before hooking an arm around Sage, taking her to the ground with him.

"Daddy!" she shrieked as Emmett tickled her. Nate, who was laughing hysterically, tugged on Emmett's arm to get him to release Sage. Emmett pretended to be overpowered and let her go, only to reach back and yank Finn off his back. Finn screamed and tried to fight him off, shouting at the others, "Save yourselves! Save yourselves!"

With a growl, Emmett tugged the wet cloth out of his shirt and squeezed it over Finn's face and hair.

"Arrgh," Finn cried out. "You win! You win!"

Emmett let him go with a laugh and helped him sit up.

It was then that he noticed me.

"DAD!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and running at me full speed. I braced myself as he launched himself at me, but I still staggered at his weight when he wrapped his arms and legs around me.

"Hey kiddo," I said with a grin.

"I missed you," he said, squeezing my face between his two hands.

"Me too," I said, kissing his cheek. "Where's Mom?"

"She's getting supper ready with Aunt Rose. I think she's going to make us eat broccoli," he said, his face screwed up with disgust.

"It's good for you, buddy," I said, setting him on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah..." he said as he reached up and pushed his unruly wet hair off his forehead.

"I think she's making artichoke mash too," he said with a crooked grin.

I tried to cover my look of dismay because I hated artichokes.

"It's good for you, Dad…" he said, copying my deep voice.

"Yeah, yeah…" I said, wrapping my arm around his neck in a headlock and pulling him towards Emmett's and Rose's house.

Supper was a boisterous affair even with Nate, Chloe, and Clara having gone home. Sage and Finn talked continuously, telling me everything they did that day down to the last detail. Emmett, Rose, Bella and I were quieter, knowing that we had serious things to talk about.

When we told them that they were going to have a sleepover again tonight, I expected them to be happy. However, both of them immediately went silent and looked upset.

"I want to go home with you and Mom," Finn said, his brow furrowed and his mouth in a tight line.

"Just for tonight, bud," I said, ruffling his hair. "Tomorrow, I'll spend all day with you."

He hung his head and didn't respond.

I looked at Bella in concern.

She shook her head and crouched down in front of him.

"How about after we get our work finished tonight, we'll come and pick you up," Bella said, caressing his cheek. "We'll even put you to bed in our room, so tomorrow you'll wake up with us."

Finn smiled at that. "Okay, but Dad you better not snore."

"I can't make any promises," I said, pinching his cheek.

That night once the kids were settled at Jasper's and Alice's we made our way to the cookhouse. Everyone else was already there, sitting in tense silence.

Once we were seated, Jasper spoke, "We believe that they're kidnapping children that were born after the world fell apart. We think they're looking for kids who are immune to the zombie virus."


	3. Where do we go from here?

**CHAPTER 3: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?**

 **Fundy isles archipelago**

 **Whitehead island**

Owen (61) and Arlene (55)

\- Philip (34)

\- John (27)

\- Sue (22)

Jack (30) and Gianna (32)

\- Gus (5)

 **McManus island**

John (42) and Nadia (43)

\- Maddie (23)

 **Pendleton island**

Bella (31) and Edward (30)

\- Finn (10)

Jasper (32) and Alice (30)

\- Clara (12)

Ben (37) and Angela (35)

\- Isaac (19)

\- Nate (10)

\- Hannah (six months)

Carlisle (57) and Esme (52)

\- Chris (22)

\- Chloe (10)

Masen (36) and Leah (34)

\- Austin (20)

\- Max (16)

\- Lily (14)

Emmett (35) and Rosalie (38)

\- Sage (7)

Embry (35) and Katie (29)

\- Casper (6)

Jane (27) and Caroline (32)

Quil (29) and Claire (30)

Seth (28)

Tia (48) and Peter (52)

* * *

After Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper returned from Wolf island, there was a tension that enveloped our community. Everyone was scared, panicked even, but it was contained under a thin layer of false normalcy. You could see it in everyone's eyes, but we were extremely careful about keeping it hidden from the children. The fear sat on me like a pillow over my face suffocating me. Enough air got by it, allowing my body to keep functioning, but at times when I'd look at Finn running around with the other kids I felt like I couldn't get enough air.

We tried to go about our daily routine, which helped some. Despite what else was going on, we still needed to harvest and get ready for winter. We were lucky. This year, our crops were healthy. Vines of peas clambered up wooden fences, carrots and onions pushed their way out of the earth and we had way more pumpkins than we needed.

However, despite the fact that we tried to keep everything normal, the kids could sense the tension. Finn was needier than he usually was. Normally, he was a confident, independent child. The only way I could describe him was that he was the eye of his own storm from the minute he was born. He jumped fearlessly into anything, which was the reason why he had a scar on his upper lip and a smaller one on his chin.

Now, he wanted to be helped with everything and it had to be Edward or me, no one else could do it with him. Edward was able to distract Finn somewhat by going through with the traditions that they'd established over the years. Every year, Finn and Edward would collect the acorns that littered the ground in the fall. Half of them they would blanch, removing the tannins that made them bitter, and candied them with maple syrup. The other half they'd plant to grow more oak trees which were perfect for building. Finn was enamored with the thought that they were helping future generations who would use their trees to build homes for their families.

Granted there were things that had changed since the news from Wolf island that had impacted his life. With guard towers built on the north, east, south, and west coasts of the island, we manned them on a rotating basis. Therefore, either Edward or I would be away from home for hours and Finn didn't like it. He didn't want us to leave his sight and became moody when one of us would leave on patrol.

There were other things that our community did to try to keep us safe. Embry and Emmett with the help of the Seawolves spent almost a week creating traps around the island by drilling sharp metal posts into the ocean floor to capsize boats and tear into their hulls.

We were lucky compared to most of the other islands in our area because the water surrounding us already had sharp hidden rocks you needed to be careful navigating around. We also had the advantage of our island being mountainous, so if you stood on the top of the cliffs that lined our coasts, you could see long distances, even to the mainland.

We also did drills on what to do if a 'wild animal,' got onto the island. Emmett had built camouflaged tree houses at different points in the woods where we taught the kids to go in case of an emergency. Sage and some of the other young ones thought it was all a game, but the older kids could sense the seriousness of it.

None of it was easy, but it was all that we could do until we figured out who was involved in the kidnapping. A few of our people brought up the idea of leaving the island. Living here was perfect when trying to avoid a herd of zombies from decimating our community. However, we were fish in a barrel if any living intruders made it onto the island.

Edward's mood since getting back had been short-tempered and snappish. Whenever pressure built inside him, he was like a ticking bomb. If he wasn't able to let it out, he exploded. However, for years, I hadn't seen that side of him. Since our life began on the island, we'd been stressed, but it was never overwhelming. The worst we'd experienced was a bad harvest, making our food supply stretched for winter. That kind of stress we could handle but being on edge all the time waiting for something terrible to happen was horrible. He tried to release his stress by chopping wood and other physical exertions, but none of it helped.

I knew that it was out of a feeling of helplessness, but it still hurt when he'd get angry at me.

He'd never taken it out on Finn, but the two of us had gotten into several heated arguments over unimportant things. One of the biggest had been when I'd gone down to the shore of the lake with Finn while he'd been patrolling the north coast.

When we got home, Edward was fuming.

"Where the hell have you been?" he snapped.

I froze, surprised by the sharpness of his voice.

However, before I responded, I ushered Finn inside.

"Go inside, Finn," I said, as calmly as I could. "I want you to read the next chapter of your book. Dad and I will be in in a minute."

Finn didn't move, casting a look from me to Edward, whose face was flushed and every muscle in his body tense.

"Go on in, bud," Edward said in a carefully controlled voice when he noticed Finn's hesitation. "We'll be right in."

Finn looked at us one last time, tugging at his hair in a nervous habit he'd picked up from Edward, and then went inside.

When the door shut, Edward spun to me.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

I crossed my arms across my chest in anger, glaring up at him.

"Before I respond, I want you to lower your voice," I hissed.

Edward's jaw clenched and his eyes flashed in anger, but he remained silent.

"We were at the lake, fishing. I wanted to get us something for supper," I said as calmly as I could muster.

My answer didn't seem to satisfy him. Instead, he raked his hand through his hair aggressively and fixed me with a baleful glare.

"You should have waited for me. You knew I'd be back in a few hours. That was reckless, Bella," he snapped.

I saw red at that point.

"I was not being reckless. I'm armed," I snarled, raising the hem of my shirt to show him the gun on my hip.

"You need to let me know before you take him someplace!" he almost shouted. "You can't go traipsing off with him alone. Don't you understand that people are snatching children left and right! How could you risk that!"

I inhaled sharply, my stomach twisting in anger.

"How dare you," I hissed. "We were never alone. There were tons of people fishing because we all know enough not to go to the coast. If you had even bothered to ask anyone, you would have known that everyone knew where we were. But no… you've decided to just lash out at me. You are such a fucking asshole, Edward."

I saw the anger begin to drain from him, but I was even more angry.

"Bella…" he began, but I cut him off.

"Don't you ever accuse me of not taking Finn's safety seriously!" I snarled. "You should know better than that."

Edward nodded, looking exhausted.

"I'm sorry… When I got home and you weren't here, I panicked," he sighed.

"I know," I snapped. "But you have no right to take it out on me."

He rubbed his hand over his face and then nodded again.

"I'm sorry, B—" he began, but I cut him off.

"Shut up," I said, not willing to listen to his apology.

Edward took the fish that I'd caught and offered to clean them. I could tell that he regretted lashing out at me, but I wasn't ready to forgive him yet.

I stomped into the house, yanking off my coat and hanging it on the hook.

However, when I noticed that Finn was sitting on the couch staring at his book with a grim look on his face, I froze.

"Finn," I sighed, going over to him.

He looked up at me with tears in his green eyes.

"Why is Dad being mean?" he asked.

I went over to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

"Dad's not being mean, Finn. He's just grumpy because he's stressed," I said soothingly.

"He shouldn't yell at you. You guys are always telling me to count to ten before I say anything when I'm mad," Finn said, glowering down at his book.

"That's what I should have done, bud," Edward said, coming in the door at the tail end of what Finn had said.

However, Finn continued to glare at Edward.

"I know you guys are worried about them getting me, but don't be mean to Mom," he growled.

 _What?_ I thought in shock _. What did he know?_

I looked at Edward in alarm and saw that he had blanched as he stared at Finn. The same thoughts were clearly running through his head too.

I turned my attention back to Finn and lifted his face so that he was looking at me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him calmly, pushing the worry out of my voice.

Finn's eyes widened in apprehension for a split second before they became guarded.

Edward crouched down in front of him, so that he was at his eye level.

"Finn, have you been eavesdropping on us?" he asked, gently.

"Umm…" Finn said, looking away from us.

"Finn…" I warned, not liking that he was trying to avoid answering us.

He looked at me side-eyed, but didn't say anything.

"Bud, you're not in trouble, but we want the truth," Edward said, gently but firmly.

Finn looked at Edward, still avoiding my eyes.

"We… I mean… I… " he began, but then took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "I spied on you guys when everyone came to the island."

"Only you?" I asked, having caught the 'we.'

Finn's jaw clenched shut and his eyes narrowed in stubbornness.

"It doesn't matter right now," Edward said, looking up at me for agreement. "We want to know what you heard."

"Someone's burning up people and monsters took Gus and now they're trying to get me," Finn rambled, his lip quivering. "Did they eat Gus?"

"Oh, baby… no…" I gasped in horror, pulling him against me.

Edward looked at me over Finn's head, with wide eyes and jaw slack in shock.

"Sweetheart," I said, rubbing Finn's back. "What gave you this idea?"

However, Finn just burrowed his head against my chest and started sniffling.

"You guys said a family burned up on Wolf island. And I know that the monsters eat people and now Gus is gone, and you are all watching us kids like hawks," he whimpered.

Edward looked at me, agonized by the fears Finn had been hiding from us.

Settling on his knees, Edward rested his hands on Finn's legs.

"Finn," he said, firmly. "I need you to look at me."

Finn raised his head and stared at Edward with eyes welled with tears.

"Have you heard anything from the older kids about what life was like before we came to the island?" Edward asked.

I looked at Edward in concern, not wanting to scare Finn. However, he moved one of his hands from Finn's knee to mine and squeezed gently.

"Chris said that there were monsters that liked to eat people and there was lots of fighting with bad people on the mainland," Finn said, looking at his dad for confirmation.

Internally, I growled. Chris was going to be in a heap load of shit when I got my hands on him.

"Yes, there were," Edward said. "Mom and I were only fourteen when the monsters came, but do you know what?"

"What?" Finn responded.

"Your Mom and I and the rest of the adults on this island were so strong that we were able to fight the monsters and then find a safe place for us on this island."

Finn looked up at me, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

"You fought monsters?" he asked me.

"I did," I said in a soothing voice.

"Were they scary?" he asked me in a small voice.

"Yes, they were, but your dad and I protected each other and we're going to protect you too," I said.

Edward moved his hand to Finn's shoulder and grabbed my hand with the other.

"Mom's right. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you, bud," Edward said firmly.

"You won't let them take me?" Finn asked, a look of hope on his face.

"Never…" Edward said, letting go of my hand and pulling Finn forward into a hug.

Finn let out a shuddering sigh and climbed off the couch so he could wrap Edward in a full-body hug with is arms and legs wrapped around him.

"What if you're not with me?" Finn asked, muffled in Edward's shirt.

"We will never leave you alone," Edward said.

"What about Gus? Did the monsters that hurt Jack and Gianna get him?" Finn asked, looking up and staring into Edward's eyes.

"No, baby," I said, smoothing his mop of bronze hair off his forehead. "They were people."

"Finn, I'm going to tell you the truth, so I need you to be a big boy," Edward said. "Can you do that?"

Finn nodded.

"There are some people who are taking kids and we don't know why. Jack and Gianna didn't know about these bad people, so the two of them got hurt. But that's not going to happen to us because now we're prepared."

"What's going to happen to Gus?" Finn asked. "He's just a baby."

"We're going to look for him," Edward said, confidently.

Our community had already agreed that some of our people would join the Seawolves to look for Gus and try to find out more about who was kidnapping children.

Chris, Quil, Tia, and Peter, none of whom had children of their own, had agreed to go. I could tell that Edward was torn between needing to be part of that group and being afraid to leave us.

So that night, once Finn was asleep and Edward and I were in our bedroom, we took time to talk.

The anger between us had evaporated when we both had to deal with Finn's fears. However, Edward was extremely agitated. At first, he paced the room like a caged animal, not talking. But finally, he sat down next to me on the bed and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Here I've been so preoccupied with manning the perimeter and training that I had no idea that our own child's been hiding his fear that zombies are going to get onto the island and eat him," Edward growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "How did I not know that he knew more about what's been going?"

He threaded a hand through his hair and pulled on it in his nervous habit, but I reached up and pulled it away.

"I don't know what to do," he said, hanging his head.

I tugged him down from his sitting position and laid down next to him.

"I feel like we're just waiting for the axe to fall. I just feel so fucking helpless," he said, turning onto his side and facing me.

I hated the look of fear on his face. I hadn't seen it in so long. He'd been my rock over the years, always able to squash any fears that I had.

"I know, but what else can we do?" I asked, resting my hand on the side of his face, caressing his cheekbone and then running my fingers through his hair.

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting me soothe him. But all too soon, he opened his concerned eyes.

"I know it's not what we want, but should I join the Seawolves? We need to find out what's going on," he said hesitantly.

My hand stilled in his hair, but I forced myself not to overreact because I knew where this idea was coming from.

"We need you here, babe," I said, stroking the side of his face. "I can't do this on my own."

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I know… I know… It's just a thought that keeps running through my head. Before Finn, you and I would have been the first to volunteer… But Finn needs both of us…"

"Yes, he does," I said, stretching my neck up to kiss his lips. Edward sank into the kiss for a moment before pulling away and looking down at me.

"Jasper says my reaction time is too slow," he said, exhaling harshly. "I've gotten lazy over the years."

Edward and the others had been sparring with each other every day. All of them were coming home at supper with bruises littering their bodies. The purple bruise above his eyebrow that he'd received a few days ago had sunk into the socket itself, and had now turned into a black eye.

Embry was apologetic about it, but Edward shrugged it off. To him, it was a sign that he wasn't ready for the fight that we all knew was coming.

"You're anything but lazy, babe," I said, running my thumb across his full bottom lip. "We just haven't had to fight in a long time, so we all need to train for what might happen."

Edward sighed and rolled onto his back, pulling me along with him. For a moment, I rested my head there, trying to let the steady thump of his heart soothe me.

"I'm scared for Gus," I said, after a while. "He must be terrified. I don't know what I'd do if it was F—"

"I know," Edward said, interrupting my sentence. "But nothing's going to happen to him. We'll keep him safe."

Turning me around so that my back was facing him, he curled himself around me, pulling me tightly against him.

"I'm sorry for earlier," he said, quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry too," I responded. "Both of us have got to do better. We need to channel our emotions into protecting Finn."

After a few moments of just listening to each other's breathing, I said, "Don't worry, I still love you."

He chuckled softly, moving my hair away from his face.

"Good. I was a little worried," he said with a squeeze.

I sighed and tried to put my worries out of my mind. I needed to sleep but my mind was still going over the future. I could tell that Edward wasn't asleep either from the tension in his body and his uneven breathing.

After a while, he gently started kissing my neck and running his hands over my body. I sighed. This was exactly what I needed, and I knew that Edward felt the same.

"Bella…" he sighed, heavily against my neck.

Rolling over, I wound my arms around his neck and held his face to mine as we kissed each other hungrily.

We were a little rougher, a little more intense than we usually were, but with practiced ease we shushed each other as we came together, mouths muffling groans and whimpers so that we wouldn't wake up Finn.

Afterwards, I heaved a sigh of exhaustion, every part of me still pressed against his naked body.

"I just want to stay like this forever," he groaned, kissing my forehead.

"We have a little boy upstairs that might not agree with your plan," I said, with a chuckle.

I'd never seen Edward more mortified than the time that we'd fallen into a sex coma naked on top of the covers and woken up to a two-year-old Finn sitting on Edward's stomach, bouncing up and down.

"Good point," he sighed, standing up and pulling on his pair of boxers and throwing a tank top and underwear at me.

Sleep came easy then, our worries pushed away for the moment.

* * *

For two months, we waited on edge for an attack or word from the Seawolves. It was painful just waiting, but there was nothing else we could do. It wasn't like we could talk on the phone or use the internet. We had to wait until someone came to us.

We tried our best to continue with our daily chores. It was harvest time, so we had plenty to do.

On a cold afternoon, Edward, Finn, and I were outside our cabin doing yard work. The air was crisp with a slight breeze, but it felt good to get fresh air.

Edward was hoeing up the last rows of potatoes while Finn was laying them out on the yard to dry off in the sun before we put them in the cellar.

Leaning his hoe over his shoulder, Edward tipped his baseball hat back off his forehead and squinted at the sun that was shining overhead. His cheeks were flushed from the work even with the cool autumn breeze chilling the air.

I had to pause and stare at him. I was struck, by how he was only becoming more handsome as he grew older. He was more rugged now with a faint dusting of bronze hair on his jaw and skin perpetually sun tanned from working outside. I even loved his callused hands which felt like sandpaper unless I used homemade lotion to soften them. They were the cherished hands of a farmer who worked hard by my side to provide for our family.

Edward must have sensed me watching him because he suddenly locked eyes with me and smiled that crooked cocky grin that made me want to pounce on him.

With his attention distracted, Edward was suddenly hit in the side of the head with a clump of dirt.

Spinning towards Finn, Edward let out a playful growl.

Finn mirrored back Edward's sly grin and then stuck out his tongue. He was Edward's clone, from his looks down to his mischievous personality.

I laughed as Edward dropped the hoe and charged after him.

With a sigh, I went back to pickling the cucumbers that we'd harvested that morning.

The sun had just reached its highest point in the sky when there was a commotion at the bottom of the hill near the cookhouse.

Quickly, Edward and I put our things away and banked the fire before the three of us rushed down the hill to join the gathering people.

Quil and Chris had returned with a large group of Seawolves. There was a nervous energy in the air as people turned to Quil for information. Over the years, Quil had grown into a handsome yet intimidating man. He was huge, taller than Emmett, but more lithe. However, it was his intensity that would sometimes freeze people in their tracks. When we were young, Quil had been the impulsive one. He'd want to jump into a fight without thinking things through. However, that impulsiveness had tempered with age. Now, he was fiercely protective of his wife Claire and the rest of our community, but extremely single-minded. Edward and Quil had had plenty of battle of wills over the years, but we were all still family.

He stood in the center of a group of people, towering above them. However, he looked like he was searching for someone. When he saw Carlisle and Esme coming from the cookhouse, he pushed his way through the crowd to reach them. Once we got closer, I noticed his nervous energy that wasn't very common for him.

Sensing that something serious was happening, Angela gathered the children and escorted them towards her house.

The minute they were out of earshot, Quil started talking.

"We found a little girl wandering the streets a few towns over. She's not talking, but we think she's one of the kidnapped children. The Seawolves have reached out to surrounding communities, but we haven't been able to find her parents yet. She's in pretty rough shape. There are needle marks on her arms and she looks like she hasn't slept in a really long time. Benito suggested that we bring her here to see you, Carlisle," he said, turning to him. "Maybe you can help her. No one has even been able to get her name."

Carlisle quickly agreed to check the girl, so one of the Seawolves went back to the boat and returned with a little girl around Sage's age. She was small with a head full of curly light brown hair. Skinny for her age with delicate features, she seemed fragile. This impression was only heightened by how very pale she was and the dark circles under her hazel eyes.

Carlisle ushered the little girl, as well as the Seawolf who had gone to get her, into his cabin. Quil, Esme, Rosalie, Ben, Edward and I followed close behind. The others stayed outside, knowing it wouldn't be good for the little girl to be surrounded by so many strangers.

The girl didn't put up any resistance to being directed into the house, but she moved woodenly, her face blank.

The Seawolf who had brought her from the boat lifted the little girl so that she could sit on the couch, but then backed off so that Carlisle could examine her.

Carlisle gently checked her over, shining a light in the girl's eyes and checking her reflexes all the while telling her everything he was doing. However, she didn't give any indication that she even heard what he was saying. Then, he checked the needle marks on her arms that were angry red welts. When he prodded gently at them, she yanked her arms away from him and wrapped them around her body.

Carlisle just smiled gently at her and went about mixing herbs and stirring them into a glass of apple cider.

"Open up, dear," he said, soothingly. "This medicine is going to make you feel better."

When she didn't respond, he gently tilted her head back and put pressure on her chin to open her mouth. Little by little, he poured the liquid into her mouth. Some of it dripped down her chin, but I could tell by the movement of her throat that she was swallowing some of it.

After he was finished, Esme tried to get a response from the girl by fussing over her in her motherly way. Sitting down next to her, she brushed a stray curl off the girl's forehead and then rubbed her back in a soothing gesture.

"Honey," she said in almost a whisper. "Would you like something to eat? Your tummy must be growling."

However, the girl's only response was to put her thumb in her mouth.

"I've got a little girl about your age," Esme said. "Her name is Chloe. What's yours?"

However, the girl didn't react in any way.

We were at a loss for what to do with the girl. Maybe the medicine that Carlisle had given her would help.

In the silence, Emmett's booming voice was suddenly heard from outside the cabin causing everyone except the girl to flinch.

"Rose?" he shouted. "Where's my Rosie?"

Emmett had been fishing with Jasper all morning, so he had no idea what was happening.

Rosalie jumped up from the rocking chair she'd been sitting on and rushed out of the cabin

"Keep your voice down," she hissed, but the rest of the conversation was muffled.

However, it was too late. The girl's eyes had widened, and she popped her thumb out of her mouth.

I prepared myself for anything. With her being traumatized by whatever had happened to her, I expected crying or even screaming.

I wasn't at all prepared for her response when Emmett entered the cabin with a guilty look on his face.

With wide eyes, the child said, "Daddy?"

Emmett froze in the doorway in shock.

"Daddy?" the girl asked again, more loudly.

Sage, who must have seen Emmett return from fishing, was clutching her dad's leg, looking back and forth between the two of them in confusion.

The little girl climbed down off the couch and tottered towards Emmett with her arms outstretched.

Emmett looked at the rest of us in alarm before crouching down in front of her.

"Hey there," he said with a gentle smile. "What's your name?"

However, the little girl seemed to not even have heard what he said.

"Where you go, Daddy?" she asked Emmett.

Emmett looked at Carlisle in concern, but Carlisle looked just as lost. I knew that if Emmett answered, "I'm not your Daddy," that things wouldn't go well and thankfully he did too.

Emmett's eyes showed the gentle concern my father used to have. He took in the little girl's appearance, her sickly pallor, the needle marks on her arms and I saw a tremor of horror run down his spine.

However, before he could say anything Sage spoke up.

"Daddy look at the boo boos on her arms. Does she need some magic lotion?"

Sage was leaning against Emmett, her arm slung around his neck as she scrutinized the girl suspiciously. But when she saw the girl's injuries, her mothering instinct kicked in. Of all of the kids, she was the one that liked playing mommy with her dolls.

"I don't know, munchkin," Emmett said with an indulgent smile. "Maybe you should ask her."

The little girl looked confused by the interaction between Emmett and Sage and I could tell by her quivering lower lip that she was near tears.

Sage detached herself from her father and took a step towards the girl.

"You need some magic lotion?" Sage asked.

The girl just stared at her wide eyed.

Undeterred, Sage stepped right in front of her. "I _said_ , 'Do you need magic lotion for your booboos?'"

She poked at the girl's arm, causing the adults in the room to flinch.

However, it didn't seem to hurt the little girl. She just looked down at her arm and then up at Sage.

"Why it magic?" she asked.

"It's bright green because it has a special ingredient that will fix anything!"

The girl took a moment to study Sage before speaking.

"I like magic stuff. Daddy makes me magic food to make me strong," she said.

The rest of us stayed silent, hoping that Sage could get her to open up more.

"Uncle Carlisle," Sage said. "Get me some magic lotion."

"Remember your manners, baby," Rosalie admonished softly.

Sage sighed, blowing a strand of blonde hair out of her face that had escaped her pigtails and repeated "Pleaaaaaaase bring me some magic lotion, Uncle Carlisle."

"Coming right up, Sage," Carlisle said.

"What's your name?" Sage asked.

"I'm Adele, but my daddy calls me Delly bean."

"Okay," Sage said. "I'll call you Delly."

Carlisle crouched down beside the little girls and opened the jar of antibiotic cream that he had created.

Adele looked at him in suspicion, pulling her arms close to her body.

However, Sage grabbed the girl's arm and yanked it forward. "I'll put on the magic lotion."

"Sage… you should let Uncle Car—" Emmett began, but Carlisle cut him off.

"It's okay, Emmett. Sage is a big girl, so she can be my helper."

Sage scowled at her father.

"Yeah, Daddy. I'm a good helper."

Carlisle rinsed Sage's hands and then gently did the same for Adele.

Reaching into the container, Sage scooped up a huge gob of the lotion.

"That's a little too much, Sage," Carlisle said, scraping about three-quarters off. "Now, just dab it on her booboos."

Very meticulously, Sage dabbed the girl's injuries with the lotion, making sure that every one of them was well covered. Then, Adele let Carlisle wrap her arms with bandages to keep them clean.

"Do you wanna come play now?" Sage asked Adele.

"Sage, we need to ask her some questions," Quil said.

However, Carlisle disagreed.

"Let her play for a little bit," he said.

"Come on," Sage said, dragging her out of the cabin.

With one last look at Emmett, Adele followed her.

"We need to find out what she knows," Quil repeated with a scowl.

"No, Quil. Carlisle's right. Sage has been the only one to get the little girl to talk. Maybe after playing with the other kids for a little while, she'll relax enough to tell us what happened. After what I imagine she's been through, adults are probably scary to her," Edward said.

Rose and I decided to follow the kids at a distance close enough to hear their conversation but not enough to scare Adele who clearly didn't trust adults. It broke my heart knowing that she'd suffered at the hands of psychopaths and that maybe her parents had paid the ultimate price by trying to protect her.

When the other kids, who were playing outside, saw us, Finn came running.

"Mom!" he shouted but pulled up short when he saw Sage and Adele.

I watched as his brow furrowed in confusion, realizing that she wasn't one of the girls from the other islands.

Continuing to me at a slower pace, he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Who's that?" he asked in a quiet voice as Sage and Adele joined the other kids.

"Her name is Adele, but she likes to be called Delly," I said just as quietly.

"Where are her parents?" he asked, looking around.

"We don't know."

His eyes widened.

"Is she one of the kidnapped children?" he asked in a voice quivering with anxiety.

I ran my fingers through his wind-messed hair in a soothing gesture.

"We don't know for sure, but we think so," I said. "So, you have to be extra nice to her."

"I can do that," he said, looking over towards her with lips pursed in reflection

After a moment, he asked, "Do you want me to ask where she's been and what happened?"

I was proud of my little boy. He'd taken what Edward said seriously and started stepping up to help more. He'd also rejoined gun training with Jasper and Edward. He was still scared, but he would now get a fierce look of determination on his face as he listened to Edward or Jasper's instructions.

I could tell by how Nate acted that he'd told him about our conversation because Nate was more subdued and less prone to rebelliousness. However, it was clear from their carefree attitude that Finn hadn't told any of the other kids.

We'd told Ben and Angela about what we'd told Finn. They were angry at first because they didn't think Nate could handle knowing, but he'd surprised all of us. Nate had been showing a maturity that we hadn't expected.

I didn't want the kids to grow up too fast, but it was just a fact of life in the world we lived in.

I looked down at Finn with a proud smile.

"No, bud. Don't ask her anything, just be nice to her. She might not show it, but she's really scared."

He nodded, reaching up to push his hair off his forehead, but his brow was furrowed and his mouth was in a tight line when he turned to face me.

"Okay," I said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Go play."

The kids spent the afternoon playing some kind of game that seemed like a convoluted mix of tag and making potions from lake water and plants.

As dusk approached, we decided to cook a large meal for everyone at the cookhouse using food that couldn't be stored for the winter. All of our families contributed something, so in the end it was a hearty stew that was perfect for a cold day.

We sat the kids around the long table in the cookhouse, while the rest of us either stood or found places outside to eat.

"This is really good, Mom," Finn said around a mouthful of food before looking across the table at Adele. "Do you like it too, Delly?"

All the adults froze, waiting to see if she responded. She'd played with the other kids, but she'd said very little.

"Mmm hmm," she agreed. "I'm hungry. The lady's food was yucky."

Finn looked at me with a questioning look and I nodded at him to continue.

"Do you mean your mommy?" he asked as he took another mouthful of food.

"No," Adele said, looking down. "Mommy's gone to heaven.'

"So who's the lady?" Sage asked.

Adele scowled.

"She said she's a doctor, but she didn't make any kids better. Some kids got sick and she made Matthew so mad that he started trying to bite everyone, so they took him away."

"She must be a bad doctor," Chloe said. "My daddy doesn't make people sicker. He makes them better."

Adele nodded.

"Mommy?" Clara interrupted, looking at Alice. "Is there any dessert?"

With that question, the spell was broken, and Adele became quiet again.

Alice brought out a maple bread pudding that she'd made from the week's leftover bread. It was delicious, and the kids gobbled it up. However, no sooner was the meal finished than the kids started to droop in their chairs.

With a big yawn, Adele looked around the room.

"Where's Daddy? I wanna go to bed, but I need a bedtime story."

None of us knew how best to handle this. Adele still thought Emmett was her father. And by looking at her curly brown hair and dimpled cheeks, it was easy to see that her father probably looked a lot like Emmett.

From the corner of the room, I saw Emmett step forward with trepidation.

"There you are, Daddy," Adele said with a smile. "I wanna go to bed now."

"He's not your daddy," Sage said with a frown. "He's my daddy."

Adele looked at Sage in confusion.

"He's not my daddy?" she asked, her eyes filled with tears. "Where's my daddy?"

"I don't know, but he's my daddy."

With those words, the tears overflowed and the little girl started wailing.

"I WANT MY DADDY!"

Sage started to cry as well, clearly overwhelmed.

Finn looked at me with concern, wanting me to fix it.

So, I stepped forward and crouched down next to Adele.

"Delly…" I began, but she interrupted me.

"NO! GO AWAY!" she cried, pushing me away. "I WANT MY DADDY!"

Emmett had rushed forward at this point, wanting to soothe the hurting little girl, but Sage grabbed him and started crying harder.

"No! No!" she sobbed. "You're MINE. You're my daddy!"

"Emmett, take Sage home," Edward said, quietly. "It's too confusing for both of them."

While Edward was talking, Finn slid down the bench, filling Sage's empty place.

"Delly, when I'm scared or sad, I snuggle with Bear-Bear. I can share him with you. He always makes me feel better."

Adele's tears had stopped as Finn talked to her.

"Where's my daddy?" she whimpered.

"I don't know, but I can share mine with you until we find your dad. Mine's really nice and he tells great bedtime stories and my mom makes shadow puppets."

Adele sniffled, tears still dripping down her cheeks.

"Does he know the story Goodnight moon?" she asked.

Finn looked up at Edward.

I was relieved that we owned the book. A few years back, we bartered with the Seawolves for children's books. We wanted all the children to know how to read and write, so it was worth the crops that we traded them for.

Edward crouched down next to them.

"Of course, I know Goodnight Moon," he said with a sweet smile. "It's one of my favorites."

"Okay," Adele said, in a small voice, reaching out for Edward.

With practiced ease, Edward picked the little girl up, but not before giving Finn a squeeze.

I went over to Finn and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart."

Finn gave me a quivering smile.

I could tell that he was overwhelmed too but was trying to be brave.

"Let's go home," I said, with another squeeze.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked me, quietly as we followed Edward up the hill.

"It's going to take some time, bud," I said. "But if we are all extra kind to her, she'll start to feel better."

"What about her dad?" he asked, stopping me as we crested the hill.

"The Seawolves will continue to look for him," I responded. "We're going to do whatever we can to find him."

He nodded and took my hand, following Edward to the cabin.

When we got inside, Edward pulled the cushion off the couch and placed it on the floor, then went up to Finn's room and brought down blankets and pillows.

"How about we all have a sleepover in the living room tonight," he said in an exaggerated excited voice. "Finn loves it when we do that.

Adele looked uncertainly at Finn for reassurance.

"I love camping in the living room," Finn said in excitement. "We can make a nest out of blankets and pillows. It's really cozy."

When she saw Finn smile in excitement, she nodded with a little smile.

While Finn went upstairs to get Bear-Bear, I went into our bedroom to get a pair of pajamas for Finn and another for Adele. Finn's clothes would be a bit big for her, but they were made from a soft material that she'd like.

By the time, I'd gotten back into the living room, Finn was busy organizing our sleeping arrangements

"You and I will sleep in the middle," he said to Adele who was clutching Bear-Bear tightly in her arms. "Daddy and Mommy will sleep on the outside. It's cozier in the middle."

"Let's get you into your pjs," I said to the two of them.

Finn stripped down to his underwear and pulled them on. However, Adele hung back from me.

"I've got some for you too, Adele," I said, but she stayed where she was.

"It's okay, sweetheart," I said, gently. "I won't hurt you."

However, she shook her head and put her thumb in her mouth.

When Edward came back into the room with our blankets and pillows, Adele went over to him and took his hand.

Edward looked at me in confusion, but I just shook my head, not knowing what to say.

Seeing the pajamas in my hands, Edward looked down at Adele.

"It's time to put your pjs on," he said, reaching out for them.

I handed them to him and watched as he tugged off Adele's shirt.

I held back a gasp when I saw how skinny she was. Every rib was clearly defined.

Pulling the shirt down over her head, Edward made eye contact with me, looking sad and so very tired.

Once she was dressed and ready for bed, I heated some milk over the fire. Edward's mother had done the same for him as a child to make him sleepy and it seemed to do the same for Finn.

While the kids sipped at their milk, Edward and I told stories to them, making shadow puppets on the wall with the light from the fire.

Soon, the kids were asleep, so Edward and I crept into our bedroom to talk.

"That poor kid," Edward said with a sigh as we sat against the headboard of our bed. "She's too young for having gone through so much."

I nodded, leaning my head on his chest.

"They're being treated like lab rats," I said with a shudder.

Edward nodded against my head.

"Wherever they're being kept can't be far," Edward said quietly. "She couldn't have made it far in the condition she's in and with zombies wandering the area."

I looked up at him.

"Do you think they're injecting them with the zombie virus?" I asked, suddenly fearful of the little girl lying in the next room with our son.

"I don't know," he said. "It sounds like the little boy named Matthew was turned."

"What if she turns?"

"Wouldn't she have turned by now?" Edward asked, but I felt his body tense up with the revelation.

"Maybe they are trying different strains of it," I said, feeling panicked. "It's clear they think that the kids are immune. They could be trying to create a vaccine."

I jumped up, tugging Edward with me.

"I'll stay awake and get her out of the house if I see any change in her. We'll talk to Carlisle about it tomorrow," Edward whispered quietly as we hurried out of the room.

The kids were curled up together on the center of the cushion, so Edward carefully slid Adele away from Finn.

My stomach churned in fear when he then crept across the room and slid his bowie knife out of his utility belt hanging by the door.

When he came back, I saw the horrified look on his face as he contemplated what he might have to do if the child turned. I wanted to cry, but I had to be strong.

Edward pulled a chair over next to Adele's side of the bed, while I did the same on Finn's side. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Against my will, I must have drifted off to sleep because when I regained consciousness I heard whispering.

"I hate her. She never gave us enough food and she would jab us with sharp things that made my arms burn and sometimes my head hurt."

"Do you know where you were, Delly?" Edward whispered softly.

"No. The room was really really bright, though. It hurt my eyes. And things hummed and beeped. None of us could sleep because it was so loud."

I cracked my eyes open, pretending to still be asleep. I was worried that I'd startle her and then she would shut down. It was clear that she wasn't as comfortable around women. It must have just been her and her dad for a long time.

My heart broke for the man. He'd lost his wife and now his daughter. I hoped to god that he was still alive and that we could find him.

Edward and Adele were lying on the bed facing each other whispering quietly. Finn was still asleep, only a tuft of his bronze hair sticking up from the blankets.

"How did you get out of the room?" Edward asked.

"The lady doctor came and got me. She took me into a small room and stuck all these things on me that I couldn't take off. Then, she jabbed me with some stuff and left."

Then a man snuck in and pulled all the stuff off me. But before I could run away, he covered me with a blanket and threw me over his shoulder," she whimpered.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Edward said, rubbing her back. "You're safe now."

"Did he put you in a car?" Edward asked.

"What's a car?" she asked.

Edward tried to explain what a car was, but the little girl had no idea what he was talking about.

It was hard to remember that this generation of children had very little knowledge of technology. They didn't know about the hum of electricity and a lot of the island children had never even seen a vehicle.

The fact that Adele didn't know what a car was meant that wherever she'd come from was close by and where the kids were being kept was also nearby.

"Where did the man who saved you go?" Edward asked after a few minutes.

However, Adele didn't respond. Instead, she let out a whimper and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"Okay, sweetheart…. Okay… enough talking…" Edward said soothingly.

He met my eyes at that point, startled for a moment that I was awake, but he didn't say anything. Just like me, he sensed that Adele didn't trust women.

"I think it's time for breakfast, don't you think?" he asked, looking back to Adele.

"Why don't you wake up Finn and I'll wake up Bella?"

Adele nodded and sat up.

Quickly, I shut my eyes and only opened them when I felt Edward's hand on my shoulder.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he said.

I heard a faint echo of the same thing from Adele as she woke up Finn.

I faked a yawn and stretched.

"Is it morning already?" I asked, sleepily.

"Yep," Edward said with a faint smile. "And it's time for breakfast."

"What are we having?" Finn said, sitting up with a groan and sporting some serious bedhead.

"I think some oatmeal is on the menu," I said, going into the kitchen and getting ingredients.

I didn't know what the day would hold with all the revelations from the last twenty-four hours but seeing the determined look on Edward's face I knew that we would face it together.


	4. The Gathering

**Chapter 4: THE GATHERING**

 **EDWARD**

 _From the darkness came the sound of heavy limbs dragging across cement walls, and feet clumsily sliding across tiled floors. The guttural moans were quiet at first, but as they got closer their rasping sighs and growls became deafening._

 _Despite the noise, I heard a small voice coming from the darkness._

" _Dad… Dad… Where are you?"_

 _Suddenly, I was looking into a small windowless room, watching as Finn struggled to escape._

 _To him, however, there was no way out. A large white door stood in front of him, blocking his way. However, he had never seen the kind of doorknob and lock that would have led him to safety. He had never been in a building from 'before.' I tried to shout to him to lift the latch and twist the knob, but no sound came out of my mouth. Helpless, I watched him search every crack in the floor and cement walls, but there was nothing he could do._

 _I tried to tell him that I was coming… that I'd save him, but he couldn't hear me. And as the light started to fade in the room, I had to watch Finn begin to sob and rock back and forth while I beat against an invisible barrier that kept us apart._

 _Then, I was suddenly in a stark hospital room._

" _Dad… Dad… help me."_

 _Finn struggled to get off the hospital gurney but couldn't because of the straps across his chest and legs. He turned beet red with exertion as he tried to free his arms, but he was just a little boy. There was nothing he could do._

 _The lights in the room began to fade while the sound of moans and growls closed in around me. Clammy hands pulled at me, but I had enough time to yank my axe from my belt and begin slashing. The familiar grab of metal on bone and flesh felt good as I blindly cut down the dead that were surrounding me._

 _Suddenly, I heard a scream of pure terror. The scream was the kind of sound that bypassed your logical thinking and went direct to your instinctual response._

" _DAD!"_

"Dad… Dad…"

 _I fought my way out of the squirming bodies on top of me, reaching for that voice. It was so close that I thought this time that he had to be within arms reach. This time I could save him._

"Dad, you're squeezing me too tight."

I jerked awake from the sound of Finn's voice in my ear and a sharp pinch to my bicep.

"Dad… Let go," Finn whined.

It was then that I realized that I had Finn pinned to my chest, my arms squeezing him against me.

Quickly, I let him go.

"Yeesh," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Next time Mom wants to wake you up. She has to do it herself."

"What happened?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my face as my heart beat a frantic rhythm.

"I said your name, but you didn't wake up. Then, when I leaned over you and said it again, you grabbed me."

"Sorry, bud," I said, trying to calm my breathing.

I still felt panicked and queasy. However, I took a steadying breath and threw back the blankets, quickly grabbing a shirt to ward off the chill from the autumn morning. Light was filtering through our bedroom shutters, so I knew that I'd slept in later than usual. Bella and I were usually up at sunrise.

"Mom says you gotta hurry if you want breakfast before we go to McManus," Finn said, with a huff before leaving the room.

Today, people from the Fundy Isles were gathering on McManus island. A resident named Alec Michaels, who'd been a police officer, was holding classes in self-defense for children and adults. Then, in the afternoon, we planned on having an information gathering meeting. Information from the past several months had been sketchy at best because it was difficult to relay information back and forth. By gathering in one place, we could get information from the source and share what we'd learned from Adele.

She'd been with us for two weeks now. After a check-up with Carlisle and careful monitoring for over a week, we concluded that whatever her kidnappers had done to her wasn't going to cause her to turn. It was a huge relief to everyone because for a while she'd felt like a ticking time bomb in our midst.

She was now staying with Emmett and Rosalie. Once Sage had calmed down, she'd accepted Adele into her home. What won her over was the idea of having a constant playmate who was the same age. The only thing that was a sore spot with her was when Adele slipped up and called Emmett 'daddy.'

It was uncanny how much Adele looked like Emmett. It made him question whether they were related. None of us really talked about our life before or the people we'd lost, but Emmett confessed that he'd come from a big family. He'd been estranged from most of them before the world ended, so he had no idea if they'd survived. However, he'd had two brothers, an older one who'd been in the military, and a younger one in university.

In the kitchen, Bella was making us a light breakfast of yogurt mixed with nuts and fruit. Masen and Leah had bartered with a family on McManus island for a cow and a bull, so fresh dairy was a nice change to our diet.

Today her hair was woven into a braid, nothing fancy, just to keep it out of her eyes.

For a moment, I stood and watched her. She hadn't noticed me yet as she stood over our table mixing up our breakfast.

Because we would be leaving soon, she hadn't taken the time to stoke the fire, so her cheeks were reddened from the cold.

Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she said, stretching her head up to me for a kiss.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked, nuzzling into her neck. "I should have been up hours ago."

"You seemed like you needed the sleep," she said as she poured our food into three bowls. "You tossed and turned all night long."

I thought about my nightmare and wondered whether it had been on repeat in my head all night. It had been so long since I'd had a dream like that or at least one that I'd remembered.

For years after coming to the island, Bella couldn't talk about the dead without a tremor in her voice. At first the smell of cooking meet made her nauseous and she had flashbacks of the herd of zombies that had destroyed Elmherst. She'd even had night terrors and woken up drenched in sweat, fighting me. It was as if once we were safe, the trauma of our lives had hit her full force.

I'd thrown myself into our new life and had for the most part been able to push the memories away. The rotting smell that had always permeated the air wherever you went on the mainland and the feeling of a zombie's cold clammy skin had faded for me. However, what I'd suppressed the most was the violence I'd committed and what I knew I could commit. I remembered how I would some times find cutting down the dead exhilarating instead of horrifying. I'd felt it in the dream this morning and it left me feeling rattled.

I exhaled harshly, feeling uncomfortable that this violence was still a part of me. But then, my eyes landed on Finn. He was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book that I'd gotten from the Seawolves. He was humming tunelessly to himself while he swung his legs back and forth on his chair. His bronze hair, like mine, needed a cut. The cowlicks that we were both plagued with were causing his hair to stick out ridiculously all over his head. He was a perfect mix of Bella and me. He had Bella's heart-shaped face with expressive eyes bright with humor, but they were my color.

Feeling my eyes on him, he looked up at me and raised one eyebrow inquisitively.

The smile that that look brought to my face flipped a switch in my head and suddenly I hoped that I hadn't suppressed the violent part of me too much. If someone came for him, I wouldn't hesitate. I'd tear whoever threatened him limb from limb… and yeah… I'd probably enjoy it.

"Here you go, bud," Bella said, holding out a wooden bowl to Finn and then another to me.

With another kiss to her neck, I stepped away and sat down at the table with our son. He continued to hum as he shoveled his breakfast into his mouth. Unlike me, both Bella and Finn were morning people. I couldn't even focus on what was going on around me until I had my first cup of tea. And today was even worse for the fact that I felt like I hadn't slept at all.

It wasn't long before Jasper came for us.

"Morning, folks," he said in his husky drawl. "It's time to go. The boat should be here soon."

Benito was sending a ship to pick us up, but he assured us that once we were dropped off it would be patrolling the area.

Not everyone was going to McManus because we didn't want to leave our home completely undefended. However, those of us that had children were chomping at the bit to learn skills that could protect them.

Jasper looked just as tired as I felt. His hair was pulled back in a messy pony tail at the base of his neck, making it easy to see the dark circles under his blue eyes. He was even twitching nervously like he used to. We were all older and more settled, but it was clear that our pasts were still part of us. I wondered whether he'd had similar nightmares, stirring the darkness in him too.

"Okay. Let's go," I said, throwing an arm around Finn's shoulder and dragging him outside with me after he put the last spoonful of yogurt in his mouth. The minute we stepped off our porch, he took off ahead of us. He joined the other kids who skipped down the hill without a care in the world. They moved like a drove of stampeding animals, stumbling over rocks, but righting themselves with the agility of youth. Finn whooped into the frigid air and tackled Nate who had been running ahead of him.

I laughed at the sight. Before Finn, I'd never known about the chaos that came with children. My sister Anna had been a quiet kid. She'd liked to play with her dolls and read her books. Therefore, Finn's frequent bursts of frenetic energy often shocked me, partly because there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for why he would suddenly feel the need to jump and run and climb any surface he could find.

Ben met up with me and Jasper on the walk down the hill. Angela was staying with the baby while he was taking Nate.

"Are you ready for today?" he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. We had to figure out a way to get him new glasses. The ones he was wearing were falling apart and there was even a crack in the corner of one of the lenses.

"I guess so," I said. I hated to take Finn and Bella off the island, but we needed to have a gathering to coordinate with the other islands.

"The kids also need to learn self-defense," Jasper said. "They can't stay innocent forever."

* * *

"Go for the soft spots, like the throat, eyes, and groin. You need to use the hardest parts of your body to hurt the softest parts of theirs," Alec said, pointing at the different places on his body.

"I'm supposed to kick someone in the nuts?" Finn asked me with raised eyebrows that almost reached his hairline.

I nodded.

"The hardest parts of your body are your head, elbow, knees, even the heel of your foot. If someone grabs you from behind and lifts you up, you can hit them in the face with the back of your head, jab them in the eye or the throat, and use your heel to kick them in the groin," Alec continued, demonstrating with Alice.

"Couldn't I really hurt them doing that?" Finn asked, chewing on his thumbnail. "If I hit them in the eye, I could break their eyeball."

Alice's petite size made her a good model for the kids because she was so small in comparison to Alec. He was a large, barrel-chested middle-aged man with frosted grey hair and a mustache, which was a striking contrast to her.

"Look at me," I said to Finn.

When his eyes met mine, they held a look of confusion. I knew that everything he was seeing here was in direct contradiction to what Bella and I had taught him his whole life. We'd taught him to play fair, to not be too rough.

"If someone grabs you, Finn, you need to fight. You can't worry about hurting them," I explained patiently.

When he continued to gnaw at the side of his thumb while he looked askance at me, I pulled it out of his mouth and turned his face back to Alec's demonstration.

"Just watch," I said, placing my hands on his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter that you're smaller than they are. No matter your size, weight, or strength in relation to them, you can defend yourself by using your body and the simple law of physics," Alec stated.

Alec hoisted Alice in the air and told her to flail about, showing that it was hard for him to maintain his grip.

"If they cover your mouth, bite them hard," he instructed, as he placed his hand over Alice's mouth. "Your best defense is your voice. Scream your code word as loud as you can and anything about your surroundings."

The kids came up with a code word to yell in case of a kidnapping. Chloe decided on "pinky" because it was a word that she'd found hilarious ever since she'd been a baby. They were also taught to yell out any landmarks that they saw.

"Okay, parents," Alec said to the rest of us. "Let's practice."

All of us picked our kids up from behind, restraining them and covering their mouths.

However, before Alec could finish his instructions, Clara threw her head back and hit Jasper in the chin at the same time as she brought the heel of her foot back and nailed him in the nuts.

Jasper dropped her as he fell to his knees, cupping his groin and pressing his face to the ground.

"Fuck!" he cried out, followed by a strangled whimper.

"Well… Clara…" Alec said, smothering a grin. "That was good technique, but we were just practicing. You weren't actually supposed to do it."

However, before Clara could feel bad about taking her father down, Emmett let out a whoop and swept her up into his arms bridal style.

"Way to go, Clara! Taking down our most bad-ass fighter!"

Clara looked confused, but still high-fived him when he offered her his hand to slap.

Finn looked shocked by the whole event, so I leaned down to him.

"You see," I said with a grin. "You don't have to be big to defend yourself."

He nodded, but I could still see the worry in his eyes.

After lunch, the kids were taken to the community center.

Before the world ended, McManus had been a popular vacation spot and had held a lot of summer camps, so it already had bunkhouses and communal areas that John and Nadia were able to use when building their new community. The island was rich in resources, so they'd even traded with the Seawolves for games so there was plenty to keep the children entertained. This made it easier to keep them confined with guards protecting them. There were over 30 children on the island, so everyone was concerned that they'd be easy targets if the kidnappers somehow made it onto the island. Therefore, all the communities insisted on having their own guards walking the perimeter. It was nerve-wracking for everyone to have all the children out of our sights, but it had to be done. There were things that we needed to discuss that would be too scary for the kids to hear.

The gathering place was a meadow close to the community house. It was a large open area surrounded by trees that blocked most of the wind, which insistently tugged on my loose shirt, causing me to shiver. It was nature's way of letting me know that Fall had arrived with a vengeance. A blanket of gold and red leaves had blown across the meadow, looking like a patchwork quilt. It was a beautiful sight, but also worrying. Winters were harsh and my memories from the past when I'd had to fight for my life in the snow worried me.

I was drawn back into what was happening around me when the field filled up. The island was packed with people that the Seawolves did business with. With so many strangers, Nadia was only comfortable with allowing people onto the island who both she and Benito had screened.

Once it seemed like everyone had gathered, I stepped forward with Emmett to relay what we'd learned so far from Adele.

Adele couldn't describe the outside of the building that she'd been kept in, only that it had bedrooms and a clinic inside of it. They were kept in two bedrooms with bunk beds, but they had to sleep two or sometimes even three to a bunk. However, one of Adele's biggest complaints was that she and the other children had trouble sleeping because of the humming coming from the walls and ceiling, which meant that more than the clinic was being powered by a generator. The clinic, itself, was stocked with medical supplies and equipment that were also run on electricity.

There was at least one doctor doing tests on the children. However, Adele said that there were other adults with the doctor, but she hadn't seen them very much.

From Adele's experience, it was clear that the children were being used like lab rats, probably being injected with what we assumed was the zombie virus. However, despite the children's suspected immunity, some children were turning and then were taken away.

Besides feeding and taking them to perform tests, they were left alone. However, at least one person was working against the group of kidnappers, but Adele couldn't describe him because he'd covered her up with a blanket when he'd rescued her.

Benito took over at that point. He hadn't changed much over the years. Even though he was in his early sixties, he was still intimidating with a shaved head and tattoos that covered his arms. He wasn't a large man, but he had a presence that came with a confidence in himself and those on his team.

"I've sent people to check out all clinics and hospitals in the area, but there's been no sign of them."

"Why have you only been searching nearby?" Jack snapped.

Since Gus' kidnapping, Jack had aged about ten years. He used to have such a youthful innocence about him. I'd hated him at first because he'd tried to steal Bella from me, but over time and with plenty of cajoling from Bella I'd learned to like him. However, it was clear that losing his son had killed something in him.

He was unkempt. His pale blonde hair hung limply around his face as he'd clearly not washed it in a long time. He'd always been thin, but now he looked emaciated. The creases on his forehead had grown deeper with worry and his eyes looked haunted.

Pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes, Jack took a quivering breath.

"I'm sorry," he said, with a sigh. "I know you're trying your best. But it's not good enough… I'm _going_ with you on the next search."

Benito grunted in disapproval but didn't argue. We all knew that Jack would be a liability on a mission. He was not a fighter by any stretch of the imagination, but how could you tell a desperate father that he wasn't allowed to look for his own son?

Jack's wife Gianna stood next to him, but her eyes were robbed of their usual warmth. She was in there, but it was like she'd taken a huge step back from life. She'd been like that ever since we'd found out that Adele didn't think that Gus was one of the children that had been kept prisoner with her.

Before Benito could respond to Jack, another man spoke up.

He was short and thin with a mop of curly black hair on top of a face that had seen its fair share of hardship. From a distance, it looked as though he was grinning, but in reality, he had a scar to one side of his mouth that twisted it into a half smile. It was shocking to see at first, but he wasn't the only one with scars. While mine wasn't that visible as it was mostly hidden by my hairline, Jasper's were just as frightening. He still bore the scar of the rope that he'd been hung by scrawled across his throat, as well as, the scar running down his cheek given to him by James. They were more prominent now because their white appearance contrasted with his tan skin.

From the way this man was dressed and his aggressive stance, I instinctively knew that he was from the mainland and not one of the islanders. I hadn't known until I got here that Benito had brought members from a community that had set up residence in a suburb of Camden, very close to the gated community Elmherst, which had been our colony's first home.

"I don't understand why you're all so worried. It's not your children that are the main targets of these bastards. You just have to have better guards," he snapped, glaring at those of us around him.

"Actually, Rob," an older man from Wolf island addressed the mainlander. "I heard that they've moved on to our kids."

"Is that true?" someone else asked Benito.

Benito sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before speaking.

"It would seem so, yes."

The crowd erupted into gasps and voices raised in alarm.

"How many children in total?" a voice called out from the crowd.

"Including the mainland, there have been fifteen children that we know of. The six most recent have been from the islands."

"My daughter was taken two months ago," a woman's voice was suddenly heard above the crowd. "My husband's still out there looking for her. I want to ask the little girl if she's seen her."

Other voices added to hers. I knew that they were desperate parents that were frantic to find their missing children, but I bristled at the thought of Adele being bombarded by strangers.

"If any of you islanders had accepted our people into your communities this wouldn't have happened. We could have pooled our resources," Rob sneered.

Over the years, there had been requests made through the Seawolves from mainlanders who wanted to move to the island, but all of them had been rejected. We already had a sustainable community and didn't want to risk adding strangers to our midst.

"This is not what we're here to talk about, Rob," Benito said abruptly.

"You're right! Let us talk to the little girl," another person called out from the crowd.

"We'll talk about that later," Benito said, shushing the crowd with a raised hand. "The purpose of this meeting is to collect information. We need to share what we know about the kidnappers and where and when they attacked."

Alec joined Benito at that point.

"When doing search and rescue, it is important to determine the point last seen. This is the point on the map where the person was last spotted by a witness with a positive identification. Since Adele's rescuer never used a vehicle to help her escape, we can only assume that she didn't travel far, especially considering the condition she was found in. Adele says that it was daylight when her rescuer left her on the side of the road. She then said that she slept outside once. Therefore, we know that she walked for over a day. If we consider where the Seawolves found her and where all the other children had been taken from and the timeline in which they were taken, we can work backwards mapping out a radius to search within."

"Once we map it out, we'll do a grid search. But it's a big undertaking, so we'll need more volunteers," Benito said.

Immediately hands shot up from people who wanted to volunteer, but Benito waved their hands down.

"Before going out, people will need to demonstrate their fighting skills. We don't need people who will be liabilities," Benito said, nodding to two of his people who began taking down names. "We'll need both sharp shooters and people who can fight hand to hand. For this mission, we'll just be looking for their base and reporting back. After we know more, we'll organize an attack to get the children back."

People were quick to volunteer, so Benito sent one of his people with the volunteers to an area outside the village to test their ability at hand to hand combat and target shooting.

I knew what I wanted, but I knew that Bella would fight me on it.

I inhaled deeply, preparing for a fight. However, before I spoke, Bella did.

"I want to go."

My breath caught in my throat in shock

"What?" I asked, in confusion.

Bella looked at me with her chin raised in determination.

"Before you freak out, hear me out. We have to protect Finn. I know that. But we need to get ahead of this, instead of just waiting for them to come for us. I'd rather be on the offensive than be caught with our guard down. It'll soon be Winter and I don't want to be fighting off attackers when we're in the middle of a blizzard. You-"

"Finn needs you," I began, but Bella interrupted me.

"Finn needs _you_ ," Bella responded. "He only feels safe with you right now. I'm not saying this to put myself down. I know it's nothing against me. It's just a fact. At this point in time, he needs you more than he needs me."

I wanted to deny it, but Finn had been glued to my side ever since Adele was brought to the island. He wouldn't even sleep in his own bed most nights. Even when we'd put him to bed in the loft, I would find him draped over my back in the morning.

I think it had something to do with the fact that he and the other children had followed us to the clearing where me and other members of the community practiced fighting.

Besides Emmett, I was one of the strongest hand to hand fighters because I was quick on my feet and I'd developed the skill to anticipate my opponent's attack. Once Jasper had been our most lethal fighter, but ever since he'd damaged the muscle in his leg, he wasn't as sure-footed as he used to be. He was still deadly with a gun, but he was no match for me hand to hand.

Once we'd caught the children watching, we decided to let them stay.

After training, Finn seemed to be awestruck. For his whole life, he'd never seen that side of me. I'd been the one to tuck him into bed at night, make him do his chores, play wrestle with him, comfort him when he was sick. He'd never seen me as a fighter.

Bella had been training too, but being so small, she'd focused on shooting instead of hand to hand. I couldn't deny that she was a great shot, probably better than most of us.

"I'll be one of the sharp shooters. I'm not stupid. I know I'm not strong enough to be on the ground. But I _need_ to do this, Edward," she said, imploringly.

"No," I hissed, grabbing her wrist before she could cross her arms across her chest in stubbornness. "Without me there, you'll be unprotected."

Bella flushed in anger, but before she could say anything a voice spoke up behind me.

"No, she won't."

I spun around only to find Emmett standing a short distance away with a grim look on his face.

"Bella's right. We need to get ahead of this. This is our best chance to find the fuckers before another one of our kids is taken. Once Winter sets in, we'll be even more vulnerable. It's now or never."

I clenched my fists.

"Then, I'll go," I snapped.

"You know you can't," Bella reported. "Finn would lose his mind."

I swung back to her and glared.

"Then, that's that. Neither of us are going," I stated.

"Edward," she said with a sigh. "Be reasonable. This is not just me going off alone with nothing but my wits and my gun to protect me. I'll be going with an organized group of fighters with a plan. We can talk to Benito and Alec. They may be able to tell us a timeline of the search, so you'll know approximately when I'll be back."

"Let some of the people without children go. You're Finn's mom. He can't lose you. _I_ can't lose you," I responded, harshly, but I could tell that Bella saw the fear that was beneath my anger.

Bella sighed, and reached up to cup my cheek.

"You won't lose me. I'm one of our community's best shooters. You've seen it yourself. None of the childless people are as good a shot. I _need_ to do this, Edward."

"No. You're not going," I said forcefully and walked away from her before she had a chance to argue.

I saw Ben standing on the periphery of the crowd and went to join him.

"I want to go, but I can't leave Angela alone with the kids," he said, a frown creasing his forehead.

I nodded as I watched Bella throw one last glare at me, before striding off in the opposite direction, joining Rose.

"Bella wants to go, but I can't let her. I don't want her out there without me. We don't know what it's like anymore and she's out of practice killing," I said, turning to face him.

Ben looked at me contemplatively.

"Seth and Quil have been out there on each of their tours. They say that there are less dead wandering the streets."

"It's not really the dead I'm worried about. If that mainlander Rob is anything like the people on the mainland, I'm more worried about survivors."

"She could be one of the snipers. She's become a better shot than either of us," Ben said. "I heard Emmett say he's volunteering too."

"I don't want her going," I said firmly.

I felt like a jerk for being so domineering. I didn't want to control her, but I couldn't bend on this. This wasn't some macho bullshit. It was just too dangerous.

I turned back to the crowd, looking for her. I didn't want her mad at me, but I had to get her to see reason.

However, Rose was talking with Nadia by herself and Bella was nowhere to be seen. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I went in search of Benito and Alec, hoping to catch her before she signed up.

I found Benito in a heated conversation with Rob and another man.

"Just let me talk to her. I promise I'll be gentle," Rob said.

"Your behavior right now doesn't fill me with confidence that you'll keep your word. She's just a little girl. She doesn't need a bunch of adults firing questions at her."

I paused in my search for Bella and listened to the conversation.

"We have a right to answers. I'm sure the Pendleton colony didn't shy away from asking her about that guy Jack's missing kid," Rob snapped, getting into Benito's face.

I knew then that they were talking about Adele.

"You need to take a step back and calm down," Benito said. "We compiled a list of all the names of children that Adele can remember. If your child's name is on the list, then we can ask Adele about it. Have you checked the list?"

Rob shook his head.

"Then, I'd suggest you stop crowding me and go do it," Benito said, sharply. "Trying to intimidate me is not going to get you what you want, Rob."

Rob stormed away without another word.

I found Bella on the edge of a clearing where the Seawolves were taking volunteers to test their skills.

When I met her eyes, I could tell by the determined look that she'd already signed up.

I was at a loss for what to say. To say that I was angry was an understatement.

I wanted to scream and yell at her, but I knew that there was nothing I could do to stop her. When Bella's mind was made up, there wasn't anything anyone could say that would change it.

I waited for her to speak because for the moment I couldn't talk.

With a deep breath, she said, "I've already signed up. I'm not trying to be defiant or stubborn, babe. Please believe me. I just feel that this has to be done and one of us should be a part of it. And right now Finn needs you more," she said, reaching out to touch me.

I shook my head in exasperation and stepped away from her.

"Alec says that we won't be gone for more than two days. I promise I won't take any unnecessary risks. I'll stick to rooftop surveillance. Emmett said he'll do it with me, so I won't be unprotected."

I turned away from her, not able to look at her at that moment.

"Say something, Edward," she said, stepping closer to me.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked through gritted teeth. "You've already made up your mind. Nothing I will say will change that."

"Please don't be mad," she said, stepping around in front of me and trying to get me to meet her eyes, but I stared straight ahead and tried to calm my breathing.

"I promise I'll be careful. I'm trained. You know that," she said, placing both of her hands on my forearms that were crossed across my chest. "While I'm gone, there are things that you need to get done at home. There's still all that firewood that needs to be stacked in the lean-to."

"You can be the one to tell our son," I said, shrugging off her hands and storming away from her.

I went to the community house to get Finn.

The guard stopped me at the door of the large log cabin.

"Which child are you looking for?" he asked.

"Finn Masen. I'm his father Edward. I'm from Pendleton island," I said, patiently. I appreciated how serious he was taking his job.

"Just a moment," he said, calling out to Peter who was one of the guards on duty for us.

Peter came around the corner of the building with his rifle slung across his back.

"Is he one of yours?" the man asked.

"Yes, that's Edward Masen. His son's name is Finn," Peter said.

"Okay," the man said. "You can go in and get him."

"Thanks," I said, before walking inside.

It was chaos in the large open area room. Games were strewn everywhere, and kids were practically climbing the walls.

From the sea of children, it was Finn that saw me first.

"Dad!" he shouted skipping around kids in his way until he skidded to a halt in front of me.

"Isn't this cool? Look at all the games they have. And there are some cool kids here from Wolf island. Can we visit there some time?"

"We'll see, bud. Maybe in the Spring."

Finn pouted for a minute but didn't argue.

"Come on," I said, putting him in a headlock and pulling him out the door. "We've got to go."

"Where are we going?" Finn asked, his voice muffled against my forearm.

"We're going to see Mom," I said. "We've got some things to talk to you about."

Finn pulled me to a stop and stared up at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

I hated that he now assumed that there was something wrong every time we had to talk to him. His life had changed so much.

"Let's find Mom," I said, tugging his arm.

"No. I wanna know now," he said, his jaw clenching in stubbornness.

In that moment, he looked more like Bella than me.

I looked around for Bella, but of course she was nowhere in sight.

With a sigh, I looked down at him.

"Mom's going to be away for a couple of days, so we're heading back to the island without her."

Finn looked at me blankly for a minute, before his eyes suddenly brimmed with tears.

"Why?" he asked me in a small voice with a quiver at the end.

"She's going with Uncle Emmett and a bunch of other people to find the missing kids," I tried to say soothingly, hoping that I'd suppressed the frustration of Bella going against my wishes.

"She can't go alone. We have to go with her," he said, lifting his chin in determination.

"We can't, bud," I said, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

"You need to protect her, Daddy. You're the strongest. I can help too. I know how to shoot. I'm not scared anymore."

I shook my head, ruffling his hair, but he yanked his head away from me.

"I'm sorry, bud. That's not an option," I said, firmly.

It was at that moment that Bella joined us.

"You can't go without us," Finn said, his voice shrill with fear. "What if the bad guys get you?"

"They won't, sweetheart. Uncle Emmett will be with me, but you also know I'm really good with a gun. Remember how I hit the target dead center?"

"No!" he screamed. "You can't leave me! You won't come back!"

"Of course, she will," I said, pushing my own fears aside.

"No! No! I won't let you! You and Daddy can't leave me alone!"

"I'm not going anywhere, bud," I said, reaching down to pick him up, but he jerked away from me.

"Tell her no, Daddy. You have to make her stay. She doesn't care what I think."

"I'll be back in two days, sweetheart. You won't even notice I'm—"

However, Finn interrupted her.

"I hate you!" he screamed before bolting towards Nate and his parents.

Bella tried to talk to Finn, tried to reassure him, but after another rebuff from him she had to leave to go to a briefing about the mission the next day.

Before she left me to deal with Finn, she promised to tell me everything about the mission tonight.

I nodded in acknowledgement, still too angry to talk about it and left to find Finn who had gone with Ben's family to the cookhouse.

Ben made eye-contact with me when I approached, a look of concern on his face as he nodded towards Finn.

I sighed when I noticed his tear-stained cheeks as he gnawed at a corn cob.

I sat down next to him, but he didn't look up at me.

I waited patiently as he ate every single kernel off the cob, clearly trying to avoid talking to me.

"Bud, we need to talk," I said gently. "Let's go for a walk."

Finn shook his head, but I didn't take no for an answer. Even though I was upset with Bella, I couldn't let her leave with Finn's angry words still echoing in her head.

I took him to the field where the meeting had been held in the morning and we sat under a maple tree which sheltered us from the wind.

"Can you tell me why you're so upset?" I asked him.

"You know already," Finn grumbled.

"Use your words, bud. You'll feel better after you say it out loud."

I pulled him against my side, so he could rest his head on my arm.

My heart broke when he started sniffling.

"She's not going to come back…" he choked out.

"Why do you think that?" I asked softly.

"The monsters will get her," he sobbed. "They'll eat her."

I took a deep breath.

"Finn, you know that Seth and Quil have been to the mainland lots of times and they've always come back."

"But they are bigger than Mommy."

"But Mom is smarter and better at shooting a gun."

"But the monsters are strong too."

"Everyone who's gone to the mainland lately has said that there are not that many monsters in the city where Mom's going."

Finn thought about this for a while.

"What about the bad guys? They hurt Jack and Gigi when they took Gus."

"But remember what I told you before. Jack and Gigi were not prepared. Mom and the rest of us have been training. She'll be OK."

Finn sighed and rubbed his runny nose against my sleeve.

"Yuck, Finn. That was disgusting," I whined, causing Finn to snicker faintly.

I turned towards him so that I was facing him and tilted his head up so that he had to meet my eyes.

"You need to say sorry to Mom," I said, gently but firmly. "I know you were scared, but you made her really sad. She loves you so much."

"OK," he responded in a small voice.

I pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight.

For a moment he clung to me and then whispered in my ear when he noticed that others were coming onto the field.

"Are you sure we can't go with her?"

"I'm sorry, bud, but Uncle Emmett is going with her. He's stronger than anyone."

"He's Aunt Rose's mountain man," he said with a snuffle.


End file.
